Home as the Least Restrictive Environment for Students with Medical Disabilities

Abstract

School leaders have a prominent role on Individual Education Program (IEP) teams and often face very challenging obstacles when determining substantive educational services and placement in the least restrictive environment (LRE) for students with medical disabilities. In absence of federal statutory and regulatory policy, standard legal research methodology was used to determine whether explicit and implicit recommendations existed for school leaders elsewhere in the law for the use of homebound placements for students with medical disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Homebound instructional services can be an LRE because educational services are provided to students who would be unable to attend school programs and activities.

Promoting the Effectiveness of School-Based Leadership Teams in the U.S. Context

“…Engaging in Varying Taskwork-Oriented Actions Depending on Goals and Tasks. A total of 20 reviewed studies suggested varying taskwork-oriented actions in which effective SLTs differently engaged according to their goals and tasks (Baecher et al, 2013;Carpenter, 2015;Chang, 2019;Dematthews, 2015;Eckert, 2019;Frick et al, 2013;Green, 2017;Halverson et al, 2015;Halverson & Clifford, 2013;Ishimaru, 2018;Judkins et al, 2019;Klar & Brewer, 2013;Leis et al, 2017;Levin & Schrum, 2014;Liou, 2015;Lustig, 2018;Mansfield et al, 2018;Mayer et al, 2013;Scanlan, 2013;Scanlan et al, 2016). The goals and tasks stemmed from school vision, mission, goals, and/ or strategies, including: (a) policy/program implementation, (b) social equity, (c) school improvement/change with a focus on instruction improvement, (d) English Learner (EL) education, (e) special education, (f) data-driven practice, (g) collective leadership development, and/or (h) risk management.…”

“…The goals and tasks stemmed from school vision, mission, goals, and/ or strategies, including: (a) policy/program implementation, (b) social equity, (c) school improvement/change with a focus on instruction improvement, (d) English Learner (EL) education, (e) special education, (f) data-driven practice, (g) collective leadership development, and/or (h) risk management. For instance, Lustig (2018) suggested what Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams should do to provide better special education for students with medical disabilities. The team actions in Lustig's (2018) study included: (a) offering "students a full individual evaluation to determine individual needs prior to homebound instructional placement" (p. 279), or (b) "obtaining physician's recommendation to document need for homebound instructional placement" (p. 281).…”

“…For instance, Lustig (2018) suggested what Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams should do to provide better special education for students with medical disabilities. The team actions in Lustig's (2018) study included: (a) offering "students a full individual evaluation to determine individual needs prior to homebound instructional placement" (p. 279), or (b) "obtaining physician's recommendation to document need for homebound instructional placement" (p. 281). Meanwhile, Liou (2015) shed light on different sets of responsive actions in their study investigating how the school management team addressed their crisis over the loss of a student.…”

“…The SLTs developed and implemented varying sets of taskwork-oriented actions depending on their goals and tasks while engaging in team interaction to: (a) recognize members' expertise and contributions; (b) provide members with individual supports and coaching; (c) encourage members to take risks and conduct experiments; (d) share information; (e) listen actively; and (f) participate in a collaborative inquiry process. The SLTs also presented the following shared psychological states encompassing (a) cognitive states that include shared mental models (e.g., shared missions, goals, and strategies for team tasks and team norms) and transactive memory of who knows what (e.g., expertise); (b) affective states -Assigning and rotating different team roles Team Tasks (Baecher et al, 2013;Carpenter, 2015Carpenter, , 2018Chang, 2019;Dematthews, 2015;Derrington, 2016;Eckert, 2019;Frick et al, 2013;Green & Rodgers, 2017;Halverson et al, 2015;Halverson & Clifford, 2013;Ishimaru, 2018;Jones & Thessin, 2017;Judkins et al, 2019;Klar & Brewer, 2013;Leis et al, 2017;Levin & Schrum, 2014;Liou, 2015;Lustig, 2018;Mansfield et al, 2018;Mayer et al, 2013;Scanlan, 2013;…”