Skip to main content
Full Menu Close Menu

Special Education Teacher Support Services

Image

In order to foster flexibility, the NYC Department of Education requested an innovative waiver from the State Education Department to combine Consultant Teacher services and Resource Room into a single hybrid service known as Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS).

According to the State Education Department, Consultant Teacher services are direct and/or indirect services [link to direct and indirect section on this page] provided to a school-age student with a disability in the student’s general education classes, including career and technical education classes, and/or to the student’s general education teachers.  Consultant teacher services adapt the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to support the student’s successful participation and progress in the general curriculum during regular instruction so that the student can meet the educational standards that apply to all students. As such, consultant teacher services are provided simultaneously with general education content area instruction. 

Resource Room services, on the other hand, are for the purpose of supplementing general education or special education classroom instruction.  Resource room services are services that cannot otherwise be provided during the student’s regular instructional time.  As examples, a resource room program might be recommended for students who need specialized supplementary instruction in organizational skills, reading, math, or the use of an assistive technology device, Braille, or compensatory strategies. Depending on the service, resource room services may be delivered in a separate location or in the classroom.

For more information on the purpose of various special education services and how services differ from each other, see New York State’s Continuum of Special Education Services for School-Age Students with Disabilities: Questions and Answers.

SETSS teachers provide legally mandated services for students with disabilities that are necessary to support their progress in schools. It is essential that providers adhere to their program. SETSS providers should not be used in other capacities (e.g., class coverage) or assigned to other duties in the school that prevent the provision of mandated services that are in accordance with students’ IEPs except in extraordinary circumstances.

Many special education teachers are no longer assigned to one program. Instead, they may be providing instruction in self-contained classes or integrated co-teaching classes in addition to providing SETSS services. The reform did not change teachers’ rights with respect to program preference. Special education teachers at all levels have the right to express a preference for program designation (ICT, self-contained, SETSS, etc.) and age range.

Source: Special Education Operating Procedures Manual, Topic: Recommended Special Education Programs and Services; DOE Continuum of Special Education services (Also can be found on DOE Info Hub - login required for access

Direct and indirect services

Special Education Teacher Support Services may be all direct, or a combination of direct and indirect. The student's IEP must indicate the amount of time that the student will receive Special Education Teacher Support Services, the distribution of the time between direct and indirect services, and the location of services (i.e. the general education classroom or a separate location). When recommending services in the general education classroom, the IEP must indicate the general education classes or subject areas in which the student will receive services.

Direct Services provide specially designed instruction and/or supplementary instruction delivered by a special education teacher through individual and/or small group instruction to provide the student with compensatory skill development and remediation activities. They address the areas of deficit that have been identified for that student and strengthen the student's cognitive skills. Direct Services are provided to address educational needs directly related to the student's disability and not to provide additional academic instruction.

Indirect Services provide collaborative consultation between the special education teacher and the general education teacher which focuses on adjusting the learning environment and/or modifying and adapting instructional techniques and methods to meet the individual needs of the student in the general education classroom. Agreed-upon strategies are delivered by the special education teacher and/or the general education teacher.

Source: Special Education Operating Procedures Manual, Topic: Recommended Special Education Programs and Services; DOE Continuum of Special Education services(Also can be found on DOE Info Hub - login required for access

Interim SETSS services

In certain circumstances, SETSS services may be provided to students who have been recommended to receive integrated co-teaching services, but have not been placed in a timely manner. Specifically, if a student has been recommended to receive ICT services as a result of an initial evaluation or reevaluation and has not been placed (or offered placement) in an ICT class within 60 school days from the date of consent for initial evaluation or referral for reevaluation, pending placement in an ICT class,

  • the parent may agree to place the student in a general education class with two periods of SETSS a day if the student is currently in a more restrictive environment than ICT;
  • the school will provide the student SETSS for two periods a day if the student’s current placement is in a less restrictive environment than ICT.

Source: Special Education Standard Operating Procedures Manual, Topic: Placement, Arranging SETSS and ICT

Minimum and maximum service requirements

SETSS are provided for a minimum of three hours a week up to a maximum of 50 percent of the school day. The three-hour minimum applies even if the student is receiving other special education programs and services such as integrated co-teaching class or special class services. If the intensity of the student's need warrants special education teacher support services for more than 50 percent of the school day, other supplementary aids and services, provided in the general education setting, in addition to Special Education Teacher Support Services may be considered.

Group size, composition and caseload

Group size for SETSS services may not exceed eight students.

SETSS may be provided to individual students or to a group of students. Group size for SETSS services may not exceed eight students. Prior to March 2022, SESIS only allowed a choice of individual or group service, with a group size of 8 being the default. SESIS was recently updated to allow IEP teams to recommend a group size other than eight students for Direct Service Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS) recommendations on students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and Comparable Service Plans (CSPs). Now IEP teams may select “other” group sizes between two and seven students. See DOE guidance on this new option

SETSS groups can include students without IEPs, as long as they also include students with disabilities and are not larger than the group size specified on any individual student’s IEP.

The total number of students with a disability assigned to a resource room (SETSS) teacher in New York City may not exceed 30 students at the elementary level or 38 students with disabilities in grades 7 through 12 or a in multi-level middle school program operating on a period (departmentalized) basis. .

Functional grouping

Students with disabilities placed together for purposes of Special Education Teacher Support Services must be grouped by similarity of individual needs in accordance with the four need areas: academic achievement, functional performance and learning characteristics, social development, physical development and management needs. Group size for SETSS provided in the general education classroom or in a separate location may not exceed a maximum of eight students.

State Regulations: 8 NYCRR § 200.6(f)(4)

Arranging SETSS services

As reflected in the DOE's Special Education Standard Operating Procedures Manual under the heading "Arranging SETSS and ICT," for continuing students, schools will make best efforts to provide recommended SETSS services on the first scheduled date of attendance of the new school year. For continuing students or students with placements deferred to the start of the school year in September, schools will identify and assign a DOE SETSS teacher within two school days of the start of the school. During the school year, schools will identify and assign a DOE SETSS teacher within 2 school days of receipt of parental consent for initial provision of services.

If a DOE teacher is not available, an authorization for SETSS Services (“P-4”) should be provided to the parent by the FSC within an additional 5 school days. The P-4 sets forth the frequency and duration of services, and includes instructions on how to invoke the P-4 and information on whom to contact at the DOE for assistance. The parent will be provided with information on available providers.

Special Education Standard Operating Procedures Manual, Topic: Placement, Arranging SETSS and ICT

Location of Service

SETSS can be provided in the classroom or in a separate location. In selecting the location of service, it is important to consider whether the service being recommended is a SETSS direct consultant teacher service or a SETSS resource room service (see New York State’s Continuum of Special Education Services for School-Age Students with Disabilities: Questions and Answers for additional information).

SETSS direct consultant teacher services must be provided in the classroom as they are services provided to an individual student or a small group of students with disabilities to adapt the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to support the student to successfully participate and progress in the general curriculum during regular instruction so that he or she can meet the educational standards that apply to all students. Consultant teacher services are provided simultaneously with general education content area instruction.

SETSS resource room services, on the other hand, are individual or small group supplementary instruction that cannot otherwise be provided during the student's regular instructional time. As examples, SETSS resource room services might be recommended for students who need specialized supplementary instruction in organization skills, foundational reading or math skills, the use of an assistive technology device, the use of Braille, or the use of a compensatory strategy. In some circumstances, SETSS resource room services can be effectively delivered in the classroom, and in others, it cannot.

District 75 SETSS

District 75 also provides SETSS in District 1 through 32 schools to students with significant disabilities as part of its Special Education Inclusive Services program. Learn more about District 75 special education inclusive services.

District 75 SETSS students are included and programmed in all District 1 through 32 school classes, programs and activities (including after-school events and other school-sponsored activities).

Based on IEP recommendations, District 75 SETSS students receive:

  • Direct SETSS from a special education teacher in the general education classroom or in a separate location in specified content areas.
  • Indirect SETSS support (time for collaborative planning with specific general education content-area teachers).
  • Programmatic paraprofessional support in specified content areas and locations; and related services.

Resources

State regulations

UFT teacher contract provisions

Special Education Positions and Assignments
Agreement on Program Preference for SETSS and ICT Positions (Special and General Education)

Retention, Excessing and Layoff, Article 17B
Rule 1-C, 3-D, 8, 9-A and 9-B