Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is a mandate within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that requires students with disabilities be educated to the maximum extent appropriate with their nondisabled peers. Students with disabilities are not to be removed from general education classes unless they have shown that they are unable to learn in such a setting even when provided with supplementary aid, assistive technology, behavioral interventions, resource rooms, etc. (Yell, 2019, pp.256-259). 

     A student's placement is determined annually by an IEP team who knows how each individual learns and can determine whether that student's accommodations can be carried out in a general education class or if that student would learn and progress better in a separate setting. While IDEA does favor inclusion, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) does recognize that inclusion in general education classes is not the best option for all students and therefore they have created a requirement that all schools must have alternative placement options that meet the needs of all children in special education programs (Kopco & Russel, 2023).

Figure 1: A list of alternative placements a school must provide in order from least restrictive (left) to most restrictive (right) (Oregon Department of Education, n.d.).

      The placement of a student in LRE is based on these three things:

      1. The type of support a student needs: what level of support and/or types of services does the student require and how much t             time do they spent receiving special education services

                 Iterant: less than 20%  a day

                 Supplemental: 20-80% a day

                 Full-Time: over 80% a day

      2. What type of service does a student need: supports that are designed for the students needs

      3. Location of the service: neighborhood school, in the district but not the neighborhood school, nearby school district, other. 

    In summary, determining the appropriate Least Restrictive Environment placement for a student involves carefully considering the level of support needed, the specific services required, and the location where those services can be most effectively provided. If a neighborhood school is unable to provide FAPE to a student, that school is allowed to place a student at a school within or outside the district that will allow for a student to receive a fair and appropriate education at no cost (Yell, 2019, p. 262). The Basic Education Circular was also issued in order to offer guidance on the requirements of the Least Restrictive Environment outlined IDEA and enforced by OSEP under the Department of Education (Kopco & Russell, 2023).

Case Law and LRE

   Least Restrictive Environment mandates were first introduced as an amendment to the Education of the Handicapped Act of 1974, later renamed IDEA on May 20, 1974. Case law as well as federal and state statutes such as IDEA have ensured students with disabilities have their right to learn in the LRE protected and are receiving a fair education in the most appropriate environment.  There have been no cases involving LRE brought to the Supreme Court, so the highest ruling there is on LRE is through circuit courts. The ruling through circuit courts is the ruling that the IEP teams are expected to follow when determining placement for students. It is important to note that LRE placements are based on the students IEP, which means the IEP must have already been created before determining placement. 

   Some of the main cases that led to the primary LRE tests and standards are as follows:

1. Roncker v. Walter (1983) sparked the creation of the Roncker Test that determines if any services that make separate settings more appropriate can be brought to general education classrooms, then they are an LRE mandate and must be brought to nonsegregated settings.

2. Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education (1989) is the reason behind the Daniel Test which was created to determine if education and progress in general education classrooms can be be satisfactory with the help of supplemental aids and services and it ensures that if a student is placed in a separate setting, that it is the least restrictive setting possible for that student.

3. Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education v. Rachel H. (1994) is a case that created the Rachel H. Test that measures if educational benefits of general education classrooms with supplemental aid can be positively compared to benefits from special education classrooms, if there are nonacademic benefits in interactions with students who do not have disabilities, the affects a students presence has on their teacher and peers and the cost of mainstreaming the classroom.

4. DeVries v. Fairfax County School Board (1989) led to the DeVries Test which determines if a student with a disability would              receive educational benefits from mainstreaming in a general education class, if any benefit from mainstreaming would be      outweighed by benefits that come from a separate setting, and determines whether a student is too disruptive in the general education classroom (Yell, 2019, pp. 265-271).