By Jenny Barker
Addressing Learning Loss and Compensatory Services for Students with Disabilities
The impact of widespread school closures on students is likely to be felt for years. The Biden administration has proposed additional funding through the American Rescue Plan for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), with an estimated $130 billion allocated—roughly $2,600 per public school student. About 25% of that funding is intended to help students recover academically from learning loss. Some funds are also targeted to expand student connectivity at home, a critical component for sustaining equitable remote learning. This would build on the previous $54 billion relief package approved under the CRRSA Act (ESSER II), which included support for special education services.
COVID-19: Gaps in Education
The scale of the challenge is substantial. A nonprofit study estimated that for approximately 3 million of the most educationally marginalized students, March 2020 may have been the last time they received any formal education at all. Reports from large urban districts indicate that many students with disabilities did not receive all of the services to which they are legally entitled during the pandemic. These service gaps have produced learning loss and, for some students, regression in critical skills.
For students with special needs, missed services often require compensatory services—also called recovery services—to make up for therapy, assessments, and other supports listed in a student’s individualized education program (IEP) that were not provided. These services can include speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral and mental health supports, and psychoeducational assessments. Compensatory services are required to ensure a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
“Students with special needs are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of gaps in education,” says Robert Avossa, former superintendent of Palm Beach County Schools. “When they don’t receive the services they require, they can lose critical skills that affect communication and independence. Making up for lost services is essential, and planning to prevent future interruptions is both a legal and moral obligation for schools.”
Equity in access to services has been a persistent challenge. During the pandemic, some of the most complex cases received fewer services, leaving districts with the task of catching up across both special education and general education. Schools should enter recovery planning with a clear school improvement strategy that addresses ongoing pandemic impacts and incorporates successful innovations developed during remote learning.
Three Steps Forward
An IEP team must decide whether a child qualifies for compensatory services. If so, three key strategies should guide planning and implementation over the weeks, months, and years ahead.
1. Work with Parents: Communication Is Critical
Partnering with parents of students with disabilities has been crucial during the pandemic and will remain central as schools implement compensatory services. School teams should proactively reach out to all families of students with special needs—not only those who initiate contact. Many families may be quiet but still need support or may raise concerns later in the process. Regular, predictable communication—such as weekly email check-ins or brief video conferences—helps families understand plans for addressing learning loss and remaining services. Seek parent input, listen to concerns, and make clear the school’s priorities and the supports available.
As Julie J. Weatherly, Esq., founder of Resolutions in Special Education (RISE), notes, “The single-most important thing schools can do is to practice effective communication and continuous collaboration with parents.”
2. Consider an Extended School Year and Online Services
IEP teams should assess whether students can meet annual goals or whether regression during closures means additional service time is needed. An extended school year may be appropriate when progress is at risk. However, inviting students and staff back to buildings during summer months can be challenging. An alternative is high-quality live online services delivered through teletherapy platforms. Online services can extend school teams during the summer, provide compensatory supports, and ensure continuity.
Several districts that used teletherapy during the pandemic reported promising outcomes; some students showed faster progress in the online format than they had in-person. Online compensatory services can offer parents a choice and reduce the need to contract supplemental in-person providers. Benefits include flexibility, the ability to deliver services in the home or school setting, and access to a broader network of specialists.
There are two common models for live online services:
- Home-based: Students connect from home to their school team or a district partner for live sessions, with a caregiver available to support onsite when needed.
- School-based: For students without reliable home internet or those who need online services to complement in-person supports, sessions can be delivered on school devices or in designated spaces. Online providers can help manage assessment backlogs and extend district capacity.
“Diversifying service delivery with remote options can increase satisfaction for staff, students, and parents,” explains Stephanie Taylor, clinical director of psychoeducational services. Hybrid approaches allow districts to scale services and let onsite teams focus on interventions that must be delivered in person.
3. Meet Legal Requirements with Data-Driven Decision-Making
To comply with legal obligations related to compensatory services arising from pandemic disruptions, districts should take a methodical, documented approach. Attorney Julie Weatherly recommends a clear process to ensure compliance and sound decision-making:
- Gather data: Collect appropriate and sufficient evidence, including remote assessment results and parent-provided information, to establish current levels of performance.
- Use data: Determine present levels and current needs before deciding if compensatory services are required, and adjust IEPs based on that evidence.
- Prioritize: Schedule IEP meetings first for students most clearly impacted by missed services.
- Analyze: Consider whether adding services beyond current needs would overwhelm or negatively affect the student.
- Keep records: Document provision and monitoring of compensatory services thoroughly.
- Maximize funding: Leverage available federal relief funds and typical IDEA funding to support recovery efforts.
Recovering every hour lost while maintaining regular services will be difficult. School leaders, special education directors, and IEP teams must make individualized decisions based on each student’s needs. Courts generally view favorably districts that make documented, good-faith efforts to provide services in the academic year when they were missed, but careful planning and record-keeping remain essential.
Conclusion
Addressing learning loss and compensatory services for students with disabilities requires proactive engagement with families, flexible service delivery models—including teletherapy—and rigorous, data-driven decision-making. By prioritizing communication, exploring online extensions of school-based services, and documenting decisions based on solid data, districts can work to restore opportunities lost during the pandemic and reduce long-term impacts on the most vulnerable students.
About the Author
Jenny Barker is the Content Marketing Director at PresenceLearning. For more information about providing recovery services for students with special needs and developing plans to sustain and accelerate learning, contact your district’s special education leadership to request a consultation.
Note: This article was originally published by The Learning Counsel, an education research institute and news organization focused on the digital shift in curriculum and instruction.