LRE
Also: Least Restrictive Environment
IDEA's requirement that students with disabilities be educated with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is the presumption under IDEA that students with disabilities should be educated alongside their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. Removal from the general education classroom is allowed only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes — even with supplementary aids and services — cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
LRE is a continuum, not a single placement. It ranges from full general education with no supports, through co-teaching, resource room, self-contained classrooms, separate schools, and residential placements. Each IEP must justify where on this continuum the student is placed and document the supports that were considered before moving to a more restrictive setting.
In practice, LRE decisions drive scheduling: how many minutes a student is pulled out for SDI, how many minutes they spend in general education, and how those minutes are distributed across the week.
Related terms
- IEPA legally binding written plan for a student with a disability that spells out the specialized instruction and services the school will provide.
- IDEAThe federal law that guarantees students with disabilities a free appropriate public education and governs how IEPs are written and delivered.
- FAPEA student's right under IDEA to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education tailored to their individual needs at no cost to the family.
- SDISpecially Designed Instruction: the adapted content, methodology, or delivery of instruction a student with an IEP needs to make progress.
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