Special Education Placement: Is it What You Know or Where You Live?

1989 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 459-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard P. Blackman

Danielson and Bellamy's article on federal data on segregated placement of students with disabilities (see pp. 448–455 of this issue) points out the failings in many situations to live up to the intent of Public Law 94–142, which clearly sets forth a presumption in favor of regular class placement in regular school buildings for children with disabilities. The need to eliminate geographic and funding restrictions to placement of students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment is stressed. Realistic but affirmative action and closer scrutiny of demonstration projects that have successfully integrated children with various disabilities into the regular classroom should be the focus of efforts.

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Decker ◽  
Paul Jansma

For over 15 years it has been public policy to educate students with disabilities, to the maximum extent possible, in the least restrictive environment (LRE) alongside their peers without disabilities. However, scarce empirical data exist documenting nationwide efforts to comply with the LRE mandate. The purpose of this study was to determine what types of LRE continua are in use in physical education throughout the United States. Subjects were physical education personnel in 452 schools throughout the United States. Data were collected regarding the usage of physical education LRE placement continua across enrollment level, grade range, metro status, and geographic region. Results indicate that while numerous (N = 26) physical education LRE continua were used during the 1988-89 school year, in most cases students with disabilities received physical education in a regular class setting with little or no access to adapted physical education. These results indicate that the utility of traditional physical education LRE placement continua may be suspect.


1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Decker

This paper is in response to the article recently publishedin Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly entitled “Physical Education and Sport for the Deaf: Rethinking the Least Restrictive Environment” (Butterfield, 1991). Dr. Butterfield maintained that regular class placement of deaf students is inappropriate whereas such placements lack (a) cultural foundations unique to deaf individuals and essentials for their optimal development and (b) appropriate supportive services vital for the education of such students. In response, the present paper (a) delineates terminology frequently applied to individuals with hearing impairments and (b) maintains that failures of least restrictive environment placement are failures of implementation rather than of conception. Specifically, it is hypothesized taht lack of estabilished supportive services for students with hearing impairments may be traced, in part, to rejection of the least restrictive environment concept by such students and their parents/guardians. This paper contends that individuals with hearing impairments have much more to gain than to lose from increasing ties to the hearing world, particularly in educational settings.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 106-114
Author(s):  
Janet L Applin ◽  
Rhonda Simpson ◽  
Nedra Atwell

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Kentucky least restrictive environment (LRE) practices and the state’s assessment annual measureable objectives (AMO) in reading for students with disabilities. This research was designed to determine whether districts achieved AMO targets for reading within LRE, and whether a relationship exists between special education students’ placement and assessment scores attained for the disability subpopulation in the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Reports. Results from this study indicated that one district achieved the scale score for reading achievement. Nine districts achieved reading AMO targets due to safe harbor, while nine districts achieved reading AMO due to confidence interval for students with disabilities. Also, the results indicated a higher correlation for students who received services in a separate location for less than 20% of the school day.


Author(s):  
Mitchell L. Yell ◽  
Christine A. Christle

The foundation of inclusion in special education law is the least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This federal mandate requires that all students with disabilities receive their education with students without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate. Our purpose in this chapter is to examine the legal basis of inclusion. We first review the historical antecedents of inclusion. Second, we examine the LRE mandate and the student placement requirements of the IDEA. Third, we survey the most important case law rulings regarding LRE and the placement of students with disabilities. Fourth, we consider strategies that have been used to promote inclusive placements and briefly review the literature on these strategies. We end this chapter by offering principles to guide IEP team members in making educationally beneficial and legally correct placement decisions for students with disabilities.


Inclusion ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-221
Author(s):  
Eric J. Anderson ◽  
Matthew E. Brock

Abstract Despite the longstanding federal mandate to place students with disabilities in general education classrooms to the maximum extent appropriate, most students with intellectual disability continue to spend most of their time in separate classrooms and schools. In this study, we describe longitudinal educational placement patterns in six states that represent the wide span of educational placement (i.e., Vermont, Kentucky, Kansas, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Montana). Surprisingly, some states are trending toward more restrictive placements, and the gap between the most and least inclusive states is continuing to widen over time. We offer constructive suggestions for appropriately applying the principle of least restrictive environment so that placement decisions are driven by student needs and not where students live.


1996 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 762-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky ◽  
Alan Gartner

In this article, Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky and Alan Gartner discuss recent developments in special education and measure them against their inclusionary model. This article expands and updates their 1987 HER article, "Beyond Special Education: Toward a Quality System for All Students," a review of the implementation of PL 94-142, which, though the basis for placement in the least restrictive environment, in fact provided legal support for the development of separate educational systems for students with special needs. Here, Lipsky and Gartner continue their argument that the special education model must not separate those with special needs. They argue that inclusion provides all students with a quality education that is both individual and integrated, citing recent court cases that support their contention that all students can and should be educated in the same classroom. Lipsky and Gartner conclude by showing how their inclusionary model adds to the school restructuring debate, which until now has excluded any mention of students with disabilities. They believe that special education should be viewed as a matter of social justice and equity, and see inclusion as a way of both restructuring education and remaking American society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Aja McKee ◽  
Audri Sandoval Gomez

Learning center models offer students with disabilities learning experiences in general education classrooms, while retaining support and services from special education personnel. The learning center approach examines existing educational perspectives, practices and structures, surrounding access to general education for students with disabilities. This study used a document analysis, a qualitative data method, to examine how two California school districts developed a learning center model to transform special education programming from segregated special education classrooms and practices to placement and access to general education. The findings inform educational programming for students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment, to comply with the American federal mandate. Findings suggest that the deep structure of educational practices complicated the ease of a change in practices for both general and special educators. However, the community approach of the learning center model, where all teachers assume the educational responsibilities for all students, forced these educators to be flexible, reexamine structures and practices, and challenge the ethos of traditional schooling. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison F. Gilmour ◽  
Gary T. Henry

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act stresses the importance of educating students with disabilities (SWDs) in the least restrictive environment, often with peers who do not have disabilities. Prior research has examined the extent to which SWDs are included in general education classrooms, but not the characteristics of the peers with whom SWDs are educated. We examined the math classmates of fourth- and fifth-grade SWDs from one state. On average, SWDs were grouped with twice as many other SWDs, about four per class, than students without disabilities. Students with learning disabilities had fewer peers with disabilities in their classrooms than students with other disabilities. Students with intellectual disabilities, autism, or emotional/behavioral disorders more often had peers with disabilities, often their same disability. Our results provide directions for future research regarding peer effects and understanding how schools group SWDs.


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