Legal Definitions - least restrictive environment

The least restrictive environment (LRE) is a part of the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA). It means that children with disabilities should be educated in general classes to the “maximum extent appropriate”. This means that disabled students should be included in regular classrooms as much as possible.

The IEP team, which includes parents, teachers, and other professionals, will decide the student’s present level of performance and decide which level of LRE is most “appropriate” to the student. There are different levels of LREs:

• General education classroom with some supports
• Mainstream (students take some classes outside of general classroom)
• Special education class (students take most or all classes in special education class)
• Specialized program outside of your school district (students in a special education school)

The time disabled students spend in general education classroom is getting less. If the IEP, through thorough consideration, decides that the specialized program outside of the school district is the only appropriate option, the student will spend no time in a general classroom.

For example, a student with a hearing impairment may need a sign language interpreter in a general education classroom. This is an example of a support that can be provided in a general education classroom to make it an appropriate LRE for the student.

Another example is a student with a learning disability who may need to take some classes outside of the general education classroom to receive more individualized instruction. This is an example of a mainstream LRE.