IMPACT OF LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT 2
Abstract
Least restrictive environment (LRE) was coined as part of legislation passed in 1975 by the
United States Congress to offer equitable education to all individuals with disabilities. As part of
the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), least restrictive environment was
designed to offer students with disabilities an opportunity to experience an education similar to
that of their non-disabled peers. However, little has been done in the nearly 50 years since
EAHCA was passed to better quantify the term least restrictive environment. Through
subsequent renewals and revisions, no effort has been made to better define this term so
administrators and SPED teachers across America would have a standardized way to determine
what type of environment that actually is for these students. As it still stands today, LRE is
determined on a case-by-case basis by special education teams in each school across America,
with little guidance and little to no consequence for poor choices. While the intent of LRE may
have been to open the general education classroom to students with disabilities, it has also
created some barriers to the equitable education it was meant to offer.
Keywords: least restrictive environment, special education, inclusion, equitable education
IMPACT OF LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT 3
The Impact of Least Restrictive Environment Legislation on Inclusive Education
Education for students with disabilities has changed dramatically in the past century in
the United States. From the early days of institutionalizing those individuals deemed as “not
normal” to including many in the general education classroom with their non-disabled peers, it
would seem that the problems associated with special education practices are a thing of the past
(Francisco et al., 2020). However, even in present-day America, many students with learning
disabilities and other health impairments are excluded from the general education classroom due
to broad and ambiguous interpretations of rules and guidelines as established in federal
disabilities legislation (White et al., 2023). Even after almost 50 years have passed since rights
for disabled students became law, failure to provide a standardized definition of least restrictive
environment (LRE) in educational legislation has continued to create challenges for students
with disabilities, preventing them from receiving a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) in
the least restrictive environment possible (Kurth et al., 2019; White et al., 2023).
Summary and Context
Students with disabilities (SWD) have not always been afforded the opportunities they
have in the United States today. From the earliest days of the public education system in
America, SWD were relegated to institutions for those deemed genetically incapable of
functioning in society or were kept at home for the parents to care for and educate (Williamson
et al., 2019). It was not until the White House Conference on Children was held in 1910 that
society began to have a different opinion regarding SWD (Francisco et al., 2020). Coinciding
with the new progressive movement in education supported by educators such as John Dewey
and Susan Miller Dorsey, which advocated for education to include all students regardless of
race, gender, or background, education for SWD began to change for the better (Smith, 2020).
IMPACT OF LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT 4
With the Civil Rights Movement and the 1954 landmark Brown v. Board of Education,
segregation in education was deemed unequal and legislation began to change the face of
American education (Francisco et al., 2020). Although Brown v. Board did not specifically
pertain to SWD, parents of children with disabilities saw the impact of segregation on their
children and began to advocate for more inclusive policies for SWD as well. Some states were
quicker to respond than others, with some states still exempting SWD from attending public
schools as late as 1969, as ruled by the Illinois State Supreme Court (Francisco et al., 2020).
Several impactful court cases accelerated the change to SWD education policy, including PARC
v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Mills v. Board of Education, where the court ruled in
favor of parents with SWD and forced public schools to provide more access to education for
SWD, regardless of convenience or additional costs incurred (Francisco et al., 2020).
Many of these court cases added credence to the need for changes in government policies
providing equality for people with disabilities in America. Beginning with the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities, all federally funded
entities, including schools, were required to provide programs accessible to such individuals
(Parkay et al., 2014). Finally, 1975 brought passage of the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act by Congress, guaranteeing all SWD receive a free appropriate public education
(FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) (Francisco et al, 2020; Kurth et al., 2019;
White et al., 2023; Williamson et al., 2019). What seemed like a monumental victory for SWD
became more of a victory on paper. Due to the lack of specificity, much of the interpretation of
LRE was left in the hands of the teachers and special education teams making the decisions
about SWD placement in the classrooms (Kurth et al., 2019; White et al., 2023).
IMPACT OF LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT 5
Changes in education have continued to come for SWD, as newer legislation has been
passed in an attempt to give them better access to the general education classroom. However,
there are challenges created by this legislation which continue to create barriers for SWD and
total inclusion (Willaimson et al., 2019). While more than 50% of all SWD now spend a
majority of their day in the general education setting, there is still little evidence to support they
are receiving an equal education to that of their peers (Williamson et al., 2019). This may be due
to the continued lack of preparation of general education teachers to differentiate successfully to
the level that some SWD may require (Lim, 2020). It is possible, according to Lim (2020),
students are receiving the same education as their peers, but their ability to access this curriculum
is not equal to their peers, indicating that least restrictive environment is not as beneficial as it
may seem.
With passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2004, another challenge
was presented to SWD in the public education arena. LRE continued to allow SWD to be
educated in the general education classroom, and NCLB created an assessment platform which
assumes that all students in these classrooms begin with equal footing, which for SWD, is not the
case (Lim, 2020). In placing testing accountability and student outcomes on the shoulders or the
schools, NCLB made educators take another look at LRE and make decisions for SWD based on
projected student outcomes rather than best environment for SWD learning. Rather than
improving the options for SWD to be included in the general education system, LRE has become
more about accommodations than actual placement (Williamson et al., 2019). Inclusion
continues to be relegated to non-academic subjects and social interactive times for many SWDs,
which is opposite to what LRE was intended to accomplish (Lim, 2020). While legislation has
IMPACT OF LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT 6
been updated over the years, little has been done to properly define LRE and how it should be
utilized to create an inclusive learning environment for SWD (Kurth et al., 2019).
Critical Analysis
Through the years, students with learning disabilities and special needs have faced a
variety of challenges to receive an education. Social prejudices, basic medical
misunderstandings, and lack of resources have been just a few of the obstacles that have
prevented these individuals from receiving an education of any kind, but especially not one that
is equitable to their peers without disabilities. Through the work of parent advocacy groups and
the civil rights movement, much has been done to move these marginalized students from the
separated back room to the general education classroom. However, there are still significant
barriers to inclusion and equity for these SWD, even those with individualized education plans
(Ornstein et al., 2017).
Scripture makes mention of many who were disabled or disadvantaged but were still
significant in the eyes of God, such as the blind man healed by Jesus in Mark 22, and the cripple
cared for in the palace of King David in 2 Samuel 9 (English Standard Bible, 2016/2001). This
should be true for those in our society and educational system today. Much of the inequality
faced by SWD in public school systems come from lack of preparation and funding to support
the additional needs of these students in the LRE. Individuals with disabilities should not be
viewed as an additional burden on the system or as those who are broken in need of repair, but
this is often the case in the public school system (White et al., 2023). The least restrictive
environment was included in legislation to allow SWD to not be defined by their disability but
equipped to face life with it, given the tools and resources to adapt their environment to suit their
needs (Lim, 2020). Leaving LRE interpretation in the hands of those who may or may not
IMPACT OF LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT 7
benefit from the placement of a SWD leaves these students with the potential to be relegated to
the least disruptive environment or least required effort environment. While most administrators,
teachers and SPED employees take their responsibilities to SWD very seriously, there is too
much gray area left in LRE interpretation to be confident that all students are being educated to
their full potential in their LRE.
Conclusion
Students and individuals with disabilities have long been marginalized by a society that
was ill-equipped financially or socially to accept and accommodate them. From being classified
as genetically inferior to having an illness that could be medically cured, individuals with
disabilities have not historically been treated equitably. With the civil rights movement and
legislation in including Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EAHCA), later
known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004 (IDEA), there have been some positive
changes in the political and social landscape for those with disabilities. However, parts of the
legislation, specifically the LRE from EAHCA have been primarily left up to the interpretation
of the school personnel assigned to work with these students. Leaving much of this legislation
open to interpretation leads to inconsistencies between states, school districts and even individual
schools as to how LRE is determined and to what extent it is applied. Until LRE is defined as a
set of standards to be followed on a state or national scale, students will continue to be
marginalized for the sake of convenience and financial concerns, not an equitable arrangement
for SWD, as the legislation intended.
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