Where are Special Education Services Provided?

Upcoming Terms Alert Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) — setting as similar as possible to the one attended by non-disabled peers and where student can make realistic progress toward meeting their IEP goals. General Education classroom — a class for all students including implementation of IEPs based on the IEP teams’ decisions. Nonpublic school — a separate specialized school for students with disabilities that an IEP team decides cannot benefit from the public school program. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — federal special education laws Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) — free public education that is appropriate to your child’s needs

 

 

Students are required to receive special education services in the environment that the IEP team decides is the least restrictive (LRE). The LRE for most students with IEPs is the general education program. Services provided outside of the general education setting only occurs when the IEP team decides a different setting is required for the child to have a reasonable opportunity to reach IEP goals. As a student’s educational needs change, service location may also change.

 

Examples of special education service locations:

 

• General education classroom
• General education classroom part of the day, separate location part of
  the day
• Separate classroom on public school campus
• Program at a public school in a different school or different school district
• Non-public school
• State special school
• Home/Hospital
• Residential program with school on-site