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The LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) Community of Practice offered a series of webinars on inclusion over the past year. They are now making the recorded archived webinars available to the public. Please click here to download the full list of webinars with instructions on how to access them (PDF)

Free webinar – presented by the LRE Part B Community of Practice When: Friday, May 14, 2010 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Mountain What: Disproportionality and Inclusion in the Least Restrictive Environment In this webinar, the Executive Director of Iowa’s Parent Training and Information Center, ASK, will provide an overview of their efforts and outcomes and will share "lessons learned" on disproportionality and Inclusion in the Least Restrictive Environment.

For more information and registration click here!What:The Mandt System builds on skill development through a system of gradual and graded alternatives for deescalating and assisting people using a combination of interpersonal communication skills, conflict resolution strategies and physical interaction techniques.The goal is to assist others in managing themselves and the safety of all involved through skillful and nonphysical means. Physical strategies are also taught to provide additional “least restrictive” options in the event the person poses a clear threat of substantial harm to self or others if physically unassisted. The focus of The Mandt System is primarily on prevention.When:February 3, 20128:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.February 4, 20128:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.Where:Havre, MTFifth Avenue Christian ChurchContact:Aileen CouchPhone: (406) 265-4356 ext. 322

To that end, today, ED’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) issued guidance to educators and stakeholders on the matter of bullying of students with disabilities. This guidance provides an overview of school districts’ responsibilities to ensure that students with disabilities who are subject to bullying continue to receive free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Under IDEA, States and school districts are obligated to ensure that students with disabilities receive FAPE in the least restrictive environment (LRE). This guidance explains that any bullying of a student with disabilities which results in the student not receiving meaningful educational benefit is considered a denial of FAPE. Furthermore, this letter notes that certain changes to an educational program of a student with a disability (e.g., placement in a more restricted “protected” setting to avoid bullying behavior) may constitute a denial of FAPE in the LRE.

Too often, when students with disabilities are moving from school to the workplace—a phase typically called transition—some of the basic tenets of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are ignored, said Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, managing attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin.

The concerns I hear from parents are mostly about placement, goals, and least restrictive environment (LRE). Yet, when I review a child's most recent Individualized Education Plan (IEP), there is little helpful information under the Present Levels of Academic Performance and Functional Performance section. The few lines that are written in the Present Levels are not helpful to the IEP Team. Often, I can find no relationship at all between the "present levels" and the "needs" and the "goals." Mark Kamleiter, Florida parent attorney (St. Petersburg) says that parents and advocates often focus only on the "last pages" of the IEP. That is what I see, too. Most of the IEPs I review have, at most, three to four lines of Present Levels. (Rarely, do they have Functional Performance levels). Remember, schools still tell parents, "We do not have to do that because it is not related to academics." Parents have to learn now to design accurate and up-to-date present levels. Advocates have to learn how to do this to and teach parents how to do this. It is one of the easiest things for parents to do because they know their child best. Until the Present Levels are accurate, parents will never be able to get the program, placement, or education their child needs.

When Judy Sorrell was a child, she knew she would devote her life to working with children with disabilities. As a 5th grader, well before the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act existed, requiring public schools to educate students with disabilities in the "least restrictive" environment possible, Sorrell was already indignant over the way a younger cousin with Down syndrome was being treated in school. Though her cousin attended school on the same campus, Sorrell wasn't allowed to talk to her or see her all day. Now 59, Sorrell has drawn on that sense of indignation when necessary to bring the most up-to-date services and professionals to her students in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, where she coordinates special education services for students with low-incidence disabilities for six school districts.

In accordance with the requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),  the state must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency located in the state on the targets in the State's Performance Plan. Because baseline data and/or performance targets have not been established for all of the performance indicators, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), has informed states that they are only required to report district performance for students with disabilities on indicators 1-5 and 8-12 this year. These performance indicators address the following: Graduation, Dropout, Assessment, Suspension/Expulsion, Least Restrictive Environment (ages 6-21), Parent Involvement, Disproportionality As A Result Of Inappropriate Identification, Child Find Timelines, and Early Childhood Transition (transition from Part C to Part B). The district's performance data is 2008-2009 data that was submitted by the district to the OPI as a part of its child count, exiting, student discipline collections and/or collected during a compliance monitoring record review. Performance data for performance indicator #8, Parent Involvement, is based on parent survey data. The Parent Involvement Survey was distributed to districts that were compliance monitored in school year 2008-2009. Districts were asked to provide a copy of the survey to all parents of IDEA-eligible students receiving special education and related services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The District Public Reports can be found on the OPI Web site at:  http://data.opi.mt.gov/SPEDReporting/ .

Metro Nashville Public Schools continues to move its 8,200 special-needs population into mainstream classes, satisfying parents who want inclusion for their children. The school district and the mayor's office made it a priority last year because federal law requires students with disabilities to be educated in the least-restrictive environment available.