As a special education teacher, there are several things you need to determine when creating the Individualized Education Plan for your students. One of these things is the student’s LRE, or Least Restrictive Environment. Determining a students LRE can be quite challenging, as you need to consider the programming that is available through your school as well as the environment where your student will be the most successful. Here is a look at the basics of determining your student’s LRE.

Understanding the Meaning of Least Restrictive Environment

As the name implies, the Least Restrictive Environment is the placement that will put the least amount of restriction on your students education and participation in the general education curriculum as well as in general education classes. Your goal as a special education teacher should be to allow your student to participate in general education classes as much as he or she is capable of doing. At the same time, if the student is not capable of being successful in a general education setting or if the general education setting isn’t capable of meeting your student’s needs, he or she should be placed in your classroom for all or part of the day.

Providing a Continuum of Services

According to federal law, your school is supposed to provide special education students with a continuum of services. This means your student should have the option to spend his or her entire day in a special education classroom, to spend his or her entire day in general education classrooms and everything in between. Therefore, you have the flexibility of deciding if your student should be in the general education setting for only part of the day, the whole day or not at all.

In reality, the staffing at your school can make it difficult for you to truly provide a continuum of services. This is particularly true at the middle school and high school level where federal law requires a “Highly Qualified Teacher” to teach every subject to all students. Unless you are considered to be “Highly Qualified” in all subjects, you may not be able to teach the subjects to your students and allow them to stay in your classroom as much as they need. In this case, your school may need to get creative in order to still provide your students with a continuum of services. For example, you may need to send your student to the general education classroom for a portion of the class period and then allow that student to come to your room to receive the assistance he or she needs.

Deciding on the Right Setting for Your Student

In order to select the LRE for your student, you need to take many things into consideration. Remember, the goal of determining the LRE is not to decide on what is easiest for you or for the school to implement. Rather, it is about determining the placement that is best suited for your student. So, consider the content of the courses, the teaching strategies of the general education teachers, the capabilities of your students and the availability of programming when determining how much or how little time your student spends in your classroom each day.