Least Restrictive Environment
The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is a federal law in the United States that governs the education of children with special needs and learning disabilities. As a part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, LRE requires that schools give disabled students every available opportunity to be educated with their peers in mainstream classrooms. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on Least Restrictive Environment that follows your specific guidelines.
Least Restrictive Environment and the Learning Process
The United States Department of Education stipulates that children with disabilities cannot be removed from mainstream classrooms unless the nature or severity of the disability precludes education in a regular class when supplementary aids and services cannot achieve the LRE goal. Children with disabilities are supposed to be educated along the same curriculum as the rest of their peers. Adaptations to the learning process, including the use in-class support staff are required for such children.
Implementing Least Restrictive Environment
There are several difficulties with implementing Least Restrictive Environment:
- Because the law does not specifically state what a "Least Restrictive Environment" is, each state must interpret the variations of Least Restrictive Environment.
- Further, because children with disabilities have an Individual Education Plan (IEP), the Least Restrictive Environment is frequently determined by the individual school based on the needs of the individual child.
- Least Restrictive Environment is part of the educational goal of inclusion, in the belief that children not only learn better in mainstream classrooms, which aids in social development but some believe it does not address specific special needs.