The least restrictive environment, or LRE, is one of several key components in the construction of a child’s IEP and plays a crucial role in deciding where a child spends their time at school, how services are offered, and the connections the child establishes within the school.
Entitlement of LRE is defined as per the guidelines of IDEA. This implies that your kid should be put in an environment where they have the best chance of interacting with other students and participating in general activities. But, how can you make sure all of these facilities are warranted for your little one? Refer to the checklist here and evaluate them on a timely basis.
What is LRE?
LRE indicates that, to the degree possible, a student with a disability should be able to attend school alongside peers. They should be able to participate in general education classes, extracurricular activities, and any other program available to their classmates. If the student is placed in a setting with other peers, assistive aids and services should be offered to help them achieve their educational goals. Academically, a resource room within the school may be available for specialized instruction, with services normally limited to no more than two hours per day for a student with difficulties.
If the student’s disability makes it challenging to reach their academic goals, restrictive settings like special schools and hospitals can be offered. In general, the less time a student has to connect and learn with peers, the more restricted their placement is.
Features of a good LRE checklist
- For starters, it is exclusive to its users. Having a common checklist is a good start, but users must tailor it to their own needs and workflow.
- A good checklist fosters a collaborative and disciplined work environment. The ultimate objective is to check the boxes.
- A good checklist is double-checked and fine-tuned. As they say, the only constant changes.
- Even in the most challenging conditions, this checklist is exact, efficient, and simple to use. It should be simple enough to just remind users of the most crucial actions. It should not be used to substitute knowledge, training, or skills.
Purpose of LRE checklist
Here is how this checklist can assist you:
- Check for documenting observations in a methodical manner.
- To equip students with skills for self-evaluation and self-esteem.
- To give learners examples of criteria at the start of a project or learning activity.
- To keep track of the abilities, techniques, attitudes, and behaviors that are required for successful learning; and
- By summarizing previous learning, a student’s learning requirements may be identified.
- Checklists can also be used to inform a student’s parents about their progress.
LRE checklist
Implementation of LRE is often automated with guided staff and supporting personnel. But for parents and students themselves, a set of rules is needed to make sure all of the provisions are going good. Check out the following set of questions to mark each of them as you evaluate each attribute of LRE employment:
- Is it possible to place the child in the regular school?
- Does the school the child joined have regular students in it?
- Is the school having all the utilities needed for your child?
- Is the little one making friends with peers at school?
- Is the LEA taking care of the accommodations and their implementations?
- Is the child active in classroom activities and games?
- Is the school open in communicating all updates and provisions?
- Is the student receiving relevant additional support?
- Is the school planning activities to indulge all students together?
- Does the school have any special team to ensure LRE?
- Is the school and its environment free of discrimination?
- Are the special staff members in touch with you for updating information?
- Does the child use all the utilities like a library, locker, and sports periods?
- Is the progress of the child being recorded properly?
- Does the school allow you to make checks of the records and lectures?
- Is your child evaluated for eligibility for IEP?
- Are the IEP goals properly written?
- Is the school having special accessibility for disabled children? (especially in places like washrooms and fountains where support is needed)
- Are the headmaster and special staff involved in LRE implementation?
- Is the school charging an additional amount for providing special services?
How LRE checklists are beneficial for students
Simple, task-based checklists for younger kids can help them become accustomed to following stages, bringing order to the relative chaos of learning and providing a path to completing complex tasks. Parents can make use of a checklist for older students too. Here are some other edges:
- Student checklists boost students’ independence and help them succeed by breaking down particular activities into smaller chunks or phases that may be accomplished quickly.
- Students can also utilize checklists to offer information on what to do when they arrive at school or before they leave. Checklists, like all other visual aids, can include pictures, objects, words, or a combination of these, depending on the student’s skill level.
- Checklists keep pupils focused on the task at hand.
- Checklists can aid in communicating the details or goals of a project or assignment to other teachers, parents, or members of the community.
Wrapping up…
A proper checklist often covers all the attributes that ensure LRE. And the listed questions can act as an easy checklist to analyze LRE anytime. Once implemented, remember to revisit your checklist on a regular basis to ensure that it is still serving you and your class well. Take notes as you go through your checklist and come up with ideas to improve it. Even if you add new checklists, solicit input from your students to ensure successful learning tools.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,