Shortened school days significantly impact the student’s receipt of a free appropriate public education (FAPE). IEP teams need to carefully consider when a shortened school day is appropriate to address a student’s disability-related needs. We will cover when the IEP team may consider a shortened school day as an appropriate alternative for an individual student, and what questions the IEP team should ask. We will also cover the data that should be reviewed and documented in the student’s IEP.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will understand when an IEP team may consider a shortened day as an appropriate alternative for an individual student.
• Participants will know what questions the IEP team should ask before making the decision to shorten a student’s school day, and what data should be reviewed and documented in the IEP.

Presenters: Marge Resan is a School Administration Consultant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Marge has worked for the department since 2007. Her work focuses on special education legal compliance issues. She is the lead consultant for the state IDEA complaint process. Marge was a special education teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District for several years where she taught many students with disabilities in classroom, community, and vocational settings. She holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and has worked as an attorney in the areas of disability and elder law.

Eva Shaw is a consultant on the special education team at the Wisconsin DPI. Her role focuses on work related to social and emotional learning, autism, and emotional behavioral disabilities, functional behavioral assessment, positive behavioral interventions and supports for students with IEPs, and alternatives to exclusionary practices. She has worked in the field of special education for over 25 years, and has had the privilege to serve children, families, and schools in several states and in a variety of roles.