New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 6A - EDUCATION
Chapter 14 - SPECIAL EDUCATION
Subchapter 4 - PROGRAMS AND INSTRUCTION
Section 6A:14-4.7 - Program criteria: special class programs, secondary, and vocational rehabilitation
Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 2024
(a) A special class program shall serve students who have similar intensive educational, behavioral, and other needs related to their disabilities in accordance with their IEPs. Placement in a special class program shall occur when the IEP team determines that the nature and severity of the student's disability is such that no other school-based program will meet the student's needs. Special class programs shall offer instruction in the New Jersey Student Learning Standards unless the IEP specifies a modified curriculum due to the nature or severity of the student's disability. The general education curriculum and the instructional strategies may be modified based on the student's IEP. Special class programs shall meet the following criteria:
(b) Special class programs for students with auditory impairments shall be instructed by a teacher possessing the appropriate teacher of the deaf or hard of hearing certificate.
(c) The nature and intensity of the student's educational needs shall determine whether the student is placed in a program that addresses moderate to severe intellectual disabilities or severe to profound intellectual disabilities.
(d) Special class programs for students with learning and/or language disabilities may be organized around the learning disabilities or the language disabilities or a combination of learning and language disabilities.
(e) Instructional group sizes for preschool, elementary, and secondary special class programs shall not exceed the limits listed in the table below. The instructional group size may be increased with the addition of a classroom aide according to the numbers listed in Column III as set forth in the table below. When determining whether a classroom aide is required, students with a personal aide shall not be included in the student count:
I | II | III |
---|---|---|
Program | Instructional Size: | Instructional Size: |
No Classroom Aide | Classroom Aide | |
Required | Required | |
Auditory impairments | 8 | 9 to 12 |
Autism n1 | 3 | 4 to 6 |
7 to 9 | ||
(Secondary only; | ||
(Two aides required) | ||
Emotional regulation impairment Intellectual disability | 9 | 10 to 12 |
Intellectual disability2 | ||
Mild | 12 | 13 to 16 |
Moderate | 10 | 11 to 13 |
Severe | 3 | 4 to 6 |
7 to 9 | ||
(Two aides required) | ||
Learning and/or language disabilities | ||
Mild to moderate | 10 | 11 to 16 |
Severe | 8 | 9 to 12 |
Multiple disabilities | 8 | 9 to 12 |
Preschool disabilities 3 | -- | 1 to 8 |
9 to 12 | ||
(Two aides required) | ||
Visual impairments | 8 | 9 to 12 |
1 A program for students with autism shall maintain a student to staff ratio of three to one. For a secondary program, two classroom aides are required when the class size exceeds six students.
2 A program for students with severe to profound intellectual disabilities shall maintain a three to one student to staff ratio.
3 A classroom aide is required for a preschool classroom. Two aides are required when the class size exceeds eight students.
(f) Secondary special class programs are defined as programs that are located in schools in which there is any combination of grades six through 12 and where the organizational structure is departmentalized for general education students.
(g) In addition to the requirements for instructional size for special class programs pursuant to (e) above, instruction may be provided in the secondary setting of a class organized around a single content area consisting solely of students with disabilities instructed by a general education teacher where an adapted general education curriculum is used shall have a maximum instructional size of 12. The instructional size may be increased up to 16 students with the addition of a classroom aide.
(h) Vocational education programs shall meet the following criteria:
(i) Secondary level students may be placed in community rehabilitation programs for vocational rehabilitation services according to the following: