Many elementary and some middle schools across the United States provide extra services to students through pull-out programs. In this way, the students are included in the traditional classroom the majority of the time but receive special services once or twice a week according to their personal needs. This situation creates unique challenges that teachers must deal with.

Types of Pull-Out Programs

There are numerous types of pull-out programs that exist across the nation. The types of programs you might encounter could include any of the following:

• Gifted Programs

• Speech Therapy

• Reading Support

• ESL Support

• ESE Support

• Voluntary Music Programs

• Additional Specialized Pull-Out Programs

The number of days that the students are pulled out per week varies depending on the program and the school. In some cases, students might miss an entire day of class while in other schools they might be pulled out for one to two hours a few days a week. In any case, it is important to remember your students who are participating in pull-out programs as you create your lessons each week.

The Challenges Teachers Face

New teachers often find that dealing with class work and students who participate in pull-out programs can be challenging. If you have students who are missing an entire day of lessons each week, you will need to plan for this. You will need to avoid special activities that cannot be made up by students on their own. It would be unfair for those students to miss important or fun activities because they have to attend a pull-out program.

Deciding on lessons for pull-out days will also depend on the number of students affected and the number of times per week. For example, if five of your 30 students leave your class one day a week for a gifted program, then you will want to make sure that any work you cover can be easily explained through written notes or worksheets.

At the same time, you will need to continue moving your lessons forward and covering necessary material with the other 25 students in your class. This can be a delicate balancing act. It's best to speak with other teachers at your school to find out how they make these programs as successful as possible for the students involved.