1. (a) Early childhood program.

   1. (1)

      1. (A) A program that includes at least fifty percent (50%) nondisabled children.
      2. (B) Early childhood programs include, but are not limited to:

2. (i) Head Start;

   1. (ii) Kindergarten;

      1. (iii) Reverse mainstream classrooms;

         1. (iv) Private preschools;
         2. (v) Preschool classes offered to an eligible prekindergarten population by the public school system; and
         3. (vi) Group child care.
   2. (2) Attendance at an early childhood program need not be funded by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B funds.

   3. (3)

      1. (A) EC: Calculating education environment. If the student is in a classroom with more than fifty percent (50%) of his or her peers being nondisabled, calculating the time is necessary to determine the percent of time the child is with his or her nondisabled peers (time spent in regular class).

      2. (B) Calculations.

         1. (i) Percent of instruction time not spent with nondisabled peers = (hours per week spent outside of regular classroom divided by total hours of instruction per week) times one hundred (100).
         2. (ii) Percent of instruction time spent with nondisabled peers = one hundred percent (100%) minus percent of instruction time not spent with nondisabled peers.
      3. (C) Every child's time is based on a thirty-hour instructional week for early childhood. Example: If a child receives speech for thirty (30) minutes two (2) times a week outside the regular class, the time is equal to 1.00 (hour). (1.0 divided by 30) X 100 = 3.3%, then 100 - 3.3 = 96.7% of the child's day is spent with his or her nondisabled peers.

      4. (D) State codes for placement.

         1. (i) RG = Greater than eighty percent (80%) in regular preschool program.
         2. (ii) RR = forty percent (40%) to seventy-nine and ninety-nine hundredths percent (79.99%) in the regular preschool program.
         3. (iii) SC = Less than forty percent (40%) in the regular preschool program.

3. (b) Early childhood special education program.

   1. (1) A program that includes less than fifty percent (50%) nondisabled children.

   2. (2) Special education programs include, but are not limited to, special education and related services provided in:

      1. (A) Special education classrooms in:

         1. (i) Regular school buildings;
         2. (ii) Trailers or portables outside regular school buildings;
         3. (iii) Child care facilities;
         4. (iv) Hospital facilities on an outpatient basis; and
         5. (v) Other community-based settings;
      2. (B) Separate schools; and

      3. (C) Residential facilities.

         1. (c) Home.
   3. (1) A child does not attend a regular early childhood program or a special education program and receives some or all of his or her special education services in the principal residence of the child's family or caregivers.

   4. (2) The term “caregiver” includes babysitters.

      1. (d) Service provider location.

   5. (1) A child who:

      1. (A) Receives his or her special education and related services from a service provider; and

      2. (B) Does not attend an early childhood program or a special education program provided in a:

         1. (i) Separate class;
         2. (ii) Separate school; or
         3. (iii) Residential facility.

   6. (2) For example:

      1. (A) Private clinicians’ offices;
      2. (B) Clinicians’ offices located in school buildings;
      3. (C) Hospital facilities on an outpatient basis; and
      4. (D) Libraries and other public locations.

Codification Notes: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. "EC" means early childhood.