As I started the interview, I asked Mrs. Featherson what was her definition of least restrictive environment? She replied; the districts in our Shared Service Arrangement have diagnosticians who take care of several of duties of the coordinator’s in larger school districts. As director, my definition is the following: LRE-To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily” 20 U.S.C § 1412(a)(5)(A)(Special Education Advisory, 2010). I was a little surprise to hear her quote the meaning from the school policies and procedure booklet I had received when my son was first diagnosis for special services. She even went further and shared with that the 9th Circuit Court had just this dilemma and created a least restrictive environment test using the four following factors: What is the educational benefit of a general education classroom to the child; What is the non-academic benefits (social, emotional, etc.) of a general education classroom to the child; What is the effect on the teacher and other students; and What is the cost of mainstreaming the child.
As she continued to educate me on the requirements for LRE, I had a lot to think about. I was just beginning to understand the various court cases that had an impact on the mainstreaming of students in the classrooms and after listening to Mrs. Featherson talk it was clear that more changes would be coming in the future for special education; and since we had been discussing the various court cases in class I wanted to get her thoughts on the case she felt has made the biggest impact in our school and she replied; the one that stands out most to her related to a recent change that had to made at our Primary School, she could not go into full detail but said it was like reading the 1972 case of PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; she sat back in her chair and took a long look at me and said you were there observing, do you remember and in that instant it hit me; last month I had to observe an IEP meeting and the student’s parent refused to attend the meeting because they felt the school had taken over their roles as parents and they said, “it was a lost cause”; they had three children and all of them were homebound for one reason or another and the parents just did not want to place the students to attend public school, but wanted them to be instructed at the home and state had to step in to ensure the children were receiving an appropriate education to meet their parents rare circumstances.
As the interview continued to move along we discussed the how services delivery was determined according to LRE in our school district. She went into full detail and explained that at LEISD: LRE is possible in mainstreaming in the general classroom setting. In Inclusion general education class were possible through the power of co-teaching between the general and SPED teachers. In General Education setting Intervention provides remediation to special education students rather than spending the entire period in resource settings. In Resource settings, special education and related services outside the regular setting at 21% but more than 60% of the school day where usually certified special education teachers may have an instruction aides depending on the classroom need. As for Self-Contained setting, the students receive more than 60% of their related services throughout the school day, and Homebound- students receiving instruction at home or in the hospital must have a signed statement from doctor that meets eligibility and will be absent for at least 4 weeks and it ARD Committee must all be agreement so that the child meets the requirements to be homebound. She also pointed out that all Special Education teachers must be certified in special education and they must also be Highly Qualified to teach certain classes, plus the Human Resource department monitor the teachers HQ status to ensure all students with disabilities are receive a Free Appropriate Public Education( A. Featherson, personal communication, May 15, 2012).
Throughout my interview, Mrs. Featherson provided me with a lot of valuable information on LRE; in LEISD most parents are very active members of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal Committee/IEP Team. Their input is always welcome and they encourage parents to share their opinions during the meeting. I also learn that the school provide transportation for those parents who do not transportation and that there has been times when meetings have taken place in the students homes or by telephone. Either way the schools at LE strive to meet the needs of all of their students and their families.
As I wrapped up the interview, I had one more important question for Mrs. Featherson and that was; has there ever been an incident where a parent or guardian advocated for an LRE environment for their child and how did the district respond? Mrs. Featherson response was straight to point and right out the handbook: The ARD Committee’s first option is always the Least Restrictive Environment. Our districts’ primary goal is to meet each individual student’s needs. If a child is receiving services outside of the general education classroom, the ARD committee documents the following: a) a description of previous efforts to educate the student in a general education classroom with supplementary aids and services and the reason(s) those efforts were not successful; a description of the ARD committee’s consideration of educating the student in a general education environment with supplementary aids and services and the reason(s) these options were rejected; if applicable, a description of the behavior management program needed by the student and the reason(s) it cannot be implemented in a general education classroom; a description of the instructional methods or the curriculum which the student needs and the reason(s) it cannot be implemented in a general education classroom; and a description of the student’s disabling condition(s) and educational needs and an explanation of why the disability condition(s) and educational needs require placement other than in the general education classroom.
After ending the interview, I thanked her for her time and later that day I went back and re-read the articles and reflected on the importance of being informed about the laws in which the school systems must abide by and to know what my responsibilities as a future Special Educator really means to myself and to my students.
Reference
Yell, M. L. (2006-2012). Least Restrictive Environment, Mainstreaming, and Inclusion. Education.com, 1-3. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/mainstreaming-inclusion/
by
tammie68 (student)
