Inclusion - This setting is where an EC teacher is paired with a Regular Education teacher in a Regular Education classroom. Both the Regular Education Teacher and the EC Teacher can provide instruction on content, with the EC teacher implementing the goals/benchmarks of the IEP  for the EC student. Both Regular Education teacher and EC Teacher can provide modifications and accommodations - this should be defined as such in the IEP. The frequency and duration of inclusion services should be indicated on the IEP and documented regularly in some way.

Resource - This setting is where the EC student is removed from the regular classroom and receives direct instruction on his/her specific IEP goals/benchmarks in the special education classroom with the special education teacher.  This setting removes the EC student from non-disabled peers. The frequency and duration of EC services should be indicated on the IEP for each area where a student has a goal (reading, writing, math, social/emotional, behavioral, functional). There is no minimum or maximum amount of time required to receive instruction in this setting.

Self-Contained - This setting is where the EC student is removed from the regular classroom and receives direct instruction on his/her specific IEP goals/benchmarks in the special education classroom for the majority of the school day. This setting is very restrictive, in that the EC student has limited interactions with non-disabled peers - usually lunch, recess, and special/wheel/extension classes. This EC student may also be following a different course of study such as the Extended Content Standards, but not always. 

• Sometimes a school district will have specialized self-contained classrooms to support a specific type of learner. These could be classrooms that focus on the needs of students with specific behaviors, or students with autism. 

Public Separate - This setting is where the EC student is removed from a traditional school setting, and is instead in a public school setting only for students with disabilities. An example of this type of setting would be the Metro School in CMS and Conover School in Catawba County. It is usually reserved  for students with the most severe disabilities who need specific support that may not be readily available at a traditional school (such as significant medical needs that require nursing staff, OT/PT supports for student independence, etc.).