Least Restrictive Environment

Many times, educators throw around not only acronyms, but whole word phrases such as this one above, without going into much detail as to what it means.

In accordance with IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2006, it is the goal to provide support to students with disabilities in an environment that takes them away from their peers as little as possible

There is an entire spectrum of "environments" from the very least restrictive to the most restrictive. Generally speaking, a student with a disability who is in the regular education setting for 100% of his or her day, without the support of additional professionals, would be considered in the very least restrictive environment. Adding the support of a paraprofessional would be the next step down, followed by the addition of a special education teacher and so forth. A full list of environments can be found at the end of this article.

Again, the goal of Special Education is to help a student remediate the skills he or she may be lacking, but to do so in a way that will not negatively impact that child, either socially or academically.  Looking at Least Restrictive Environment and ensuring this very fine balancing act is in place is paramount to both working within the confines of the law, as well as working in the best interest of the child.

Environments, from least to most restrictive, in the eyes of the law..

1. general education classroom setting with no supports
2. general education with in-class resources (push in services with either a paraprofessional or special education teacher)
3. resource specialist program (pull out services - this is your typical LRC pull out class)
4. special day class - may be a self-contained program within your school or district
5. non-public school
6. day treatment center
7. residential treatment center
8. home hospital

Educationally Yours,
The SpEd Guru