Teaching · Special Education

The placement talk, written down the way the law asks for it.

Record what has been tried in the general class, each option the team weighed and why, and how much of the week the student spends with peers. The summary shows the share of the week inside the general class and what the team has not yet talked through.

Start a discussion record What you get

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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Special Education toolkit, $99 for 100 items.

The placement discussion

One record per student and meeting. Use initials or a code, never a name. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Special Education$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with: For each placement discussion, the supports tried, every option considered with its reason, minutes with peers and nonacademic settings, the harmful-effect and home-school questions, and the family’s view, with a summary of time in the general class and open points.
Who it is for: IEP teams: special education teachers and case managers who take the notes, with general education teachers, school psychologists and administrators at the table.
Format: Browser form for use during or after the meeting. Several saved records; printed with the summary or as a blank form to fill by hand; CSV with one row per record; export and import a file.
Access: $12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Special Education toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives: The Special Education space in Caveat Teaching.
Support: Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

Drawn for this page. The continuum runs from the general class to more separate settings; a team starts at the left and moves right only as far as the student’s needs require.

How to use it

Start a record with the student’s initials or a code and the meeting date.
Note the setting today and the need that raises the question.
List the supports already tried in the general class and how they went.
Mark each option on the continuum as chosen, set aside or not discussed, and write the reasons.
Enter minutes in the week and outside the class, then read the summary before the team closes the topic.

Start a discussion record

What the discussion record is for

What federal rules ask

Under IDEA, a student with a disability is educated with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, and is removed from the general class only when the nature or severity of the disability means education there, with supplementary aids and services, cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Schools keep a continuum of placements, decide placement at least once a year based on the IEP, place as close to home as possible, consider harmful effects, and include students in meals, recess and activities to the extent appropriate.

The percentage bands

Federal data on placement report the share of the school day a student spends inside the regular class: 80% or more, 40% to 79%, and less than 40%. The summary uses the same bands so the IEP and the school’s reports agree. A percentage describes a placement; it does not choose one.

What this form is not

It does not decide placement or say which option is right. Your state and district add their own rules and forms; follow them. Records use a code, never a name, and stay in this browser.

Sources

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.114 to 300.117 (least restrictive environment, continuum of alternative placements, placements, nonacademic settings).
34 CFR 300.320(a)(5) (the IEP explains the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children) and 300.42 (supplementary aids and services).
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. IDEA Section 618 data collection: educational environments for children ages 5 (in kindergarten) to 21 (regular class 80% or more, 40% to 79%, less than 40% of the day).
34 CFR 300.503 (prior written notice) and 300.504 (procedural safeguards notice).
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR Part 99.

The example student is made up. The record keeps a team’s discussion; it does not make the placement decision, which belongs to the IEP team under federal and state rules. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.