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MDE Office of Special Education
Guidance
Guidance
Compensatory Education
Michigan Department of Education Office of Special Education
November 2020
Purpose
The purpose of compensatory education is to remedy a public agency's failure to
provide a child with a disability with "appropriate services" during the time the child is
(or was) entitled to a free appropriate public education when it is determined
appropriate services were denied. Compensatory education may be awarded as a result
of a finding from a state complaint, due process hearing, or monitoring activity.
Compensatory education awards should aim to place disabled children in the same
position they would have occupied but for the school district's violations of IDEA. Bd. of
Educ. v. L.M., 478 F.3d 307, 317 (6th Cir. 2007).
Compensatory Education Plan
Compensatory education is intended to be a supplement to a student's current
instruction and educational opportunities. Therefore, compensatory education is
provided outside the course of the regular school day, when instruction will not be
supplanted, and a FAPE and the least restrictive environment will not be further
compromised. Compensatory education may be provided before school, after school,
and/or during the summer and other periods when there are breaks of instruction.
A compensatory education plan must reflect the requirements of a finding to effectively
correct identified noncompliance for an individual student. A compensatory education
plan which follows the guidelines listed below will help ensure the district’s proposal is
clearly understood by all relevant parties.
