Least Restrictive Environment [LRE] Concepts and Legal Requirements

What is meant by Least Restrictive Environment[LRE]?

1. In the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), least restrictive environment (LRE) indicates that a student who has a disability should be allowed the opportunity to receive educated with non-disabled peers, to the highest extent possible.
   
   
   What are legal requirements of LRE according to the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act[IDEA]? 
   In order to be eligible to receive funds under Part B of IDEA (IDEA), States must, among other conditions, assure that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is made available to all children with specified disabilities in mandated age ranges.

   The term "FAPE" is defined as including, among other elements, special education and related services, provided at no cost to parents, in conformity with an individualized education program (IEP).

   The IEP, which contains the statement of the special education and related services to meet each disabled students' unique needs, forms the basis for the entitlement of each student with a disability to an individualized and appropriate education.

   IDEA further provides that States must have in place procedures assuring that, "to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."
   (wrightslaw website)
   Is LRE Considered a Value?
   Inclusion Is A Value

   
   

   "We view inclusion as a value, a set of humanistic beliefs that have been encoded in federal law.  These laws clearly reflect that individuals with disabilities are valued members of society.   Inclusion is a process through which we discover our similarities, rather than our differences, and we focus on our strengths, not our weaknesses.   Inclusion does not reflect a place where special education is provided, but in a larger sense, a way of life and a way of thinking about the future of our children.  By providing our children with opportunities to have meaningful relationships and experiences within their family, school, and community lives, we are enabling them to reach their fullest potential as adults."

   
   

   
   

    (quote from: http://www.spannj.org/BasicRights/least_restrictive_environment.htm)