Chapter 11: Least Restrictive Environment
Test Questions
True or False
1. Mainstreaming, inclusion, and Least Restrictive Environment are synonymous terms.
2. The IDEA imposes obligations on schools to consider placing students in general education
classrooms with supplementary aids and services before considering more restrictive
alternatives.
3. The IDEA creates an absolute right for a student with disabilities to be educated in his or her
neighborhood school.
4. A school district may refuse to place a student in the least restrictive environment only when
it does not have the appropriate placement option.
5. When making the determination regarding the least restrictive environment an IEP team can
use a student’s effect on his or her peers in arriving at their determination.
6. The least restrictive environment is always the general education setting.
7. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet accepted a case interpreting the LRE mandate.
8. The IDEA mandates that all educational facilities, including private schools, implement the
LRE regulations.
9. Legislation and litigation regarding LRE and FAPE indicate that the school’s primary
obligation is to provide a student in special education with a FAPE.
10. An appropriate interpretation of the LRE litigation is that good faith efforts must be made to
educate students with disabilities in integrated setting.
Multiple Choice
1. Rank the following settings on the continuum of placements in terms of the degree of
restrictiveness of the setting (least-1 to most-4)
a. self-contained classroom 1. ____
b. regular classroom 2. ____
c. special school 3. ____
d. hospital setting 4. ____
2. In determining the LRE for a student IEP teams should (may be more than one)
a. provide support services to allow the student to remain in the general education
classroom (e.g., management plans, paraprofessionals).
b. consider the entire continuum of placements in making the placement.
c. integrate students who are in more restrictive settings whenever possible,
including nonacademic settings (e.g., physical education, lunch).
d. never consider placement in a setting more restrictive than a special school.
3. Although the results of LRE litigation varies, all the cases reviewed in the text (e.g., Roncker,
Greer, Daniel R.R., Rachel H., Clyde K, Hartmann) have indicated that
a. mainstreaming is not required in every case.
b. the Rowley standard is appropriate in judging all LRE cases.
c. school districts may have gaps in the continuum of services they offer.
d. the Congressional preference for mainstreaming cannot be rebutted.
4. According to the two part Daniel RR test, in judging a school’s compliance with LRE the
court first must ask whether the child could be educated in the regular classroom with aids
and services and if they cannot, the court must ask
a. if the service could be transported to a less restrictive setting.
b. has the child been mainstreamed to the maximum extent appropriate.
c. if the school has complied with all procedural requirements.
d. if the placement will result in educational benefit for the child.
5. Which of the following factors (from Rachel H.) was the most important to the court in the
Clyde K. decision?
a. Academic benefits of regular v. special class placement.
b. Nonacademic benefits of regular v. special class placement.
c. The effect of the student on the education of others.
d. The cost.
6. Who makes the LRE determination?
a. the parent
b. the school district
c. the IEP team
d. the school psychologist
7.
Which of the following is a misinterpretation of the concept of least restrictive environment?
a. To the maximum extent appropriate students with disabilities should be educated
with students without disabilities.
b. Students should be placed in more restrictive settings when such a placement is
required to provide an appropriate education.
c. IEP teams should consider the effects of a student’s behavior on the education of
his or her peers when determining a student’s placement.
d. Every school district must have a total continuum of alternative placements
available from which to choose the appropriate placement.
8. Which of the following settings is never the least restrictive environment for any special
education student?
a. Mainstream
b. Institutional settings
c. Homebound instruction
d. Self-contained setting
e. None of the above
9. When determining the LRE for a student, IEP teams should (may be more than one answer)
a. provide services to allow the student to remain in the regular classroom (e.g.,
supplementary aids and services).
b. consider the entire continuum of placements options when determining the
student’s placement.
c. integrate the student in integrated settings whenever possible (if the student is
being placed in a more restrictive setting).
d. don’t consider placement in a setting more restrictive than a special school.
10. Which of the following factors (from Rachel H.) was a very important factor to the court in
the Clyde K. decision?
a. Academic benefits of regular v. special class placement.
b. Nonacademic benefits of regular v. special class placement.
c. The effect of the student on the education of others.
d. The cost.
Short Answer
1. Describe and explain the continuum of alternative placements. What did Congress include
the continuum in the IDEA?
2. The concept of least restrictive environment has been referred to as a rebuttable presumption.
What is a rebuttable presumption with regards to LRE?
3. Describe two of the following cases. Indicate in which circuits the cases are controlling
authority. Cases: Daniel R.R. v. El Paso (1989), Sacramento City Unified School District v.
Rachel H. (1994), Clyde K. v. Puyallup School District (1994), Hartmann v. Loudoun County
Board of Education (1997).
4. What is the statutory definition of least restrictive environment? Explain the two major parts
of this definition.
5. Describe supplementary aids or services that may be used to help a student to be educated in
the LRE.
6. When determining LRE, can the IEP consider a student’s effects on the education of other
students? If so, how? If not, why not?
7. Explain the following statement: The relative restrictiveness of an educational environment
can only be determined in light of a student’s individual needs.
8. Does the IDEA guarantee that special education services must be provided in a student’s
neighborhood school? Why or why not?
9. Does the LRE mandate of the IDEA apply to nonacademic programs and settings as well as
academic setting?
10. Explain how the general curriculum should be part of placement decisions.
Essay
1. Explain Champagne’s sequential model for determining placement.
2. Describe four factors that school district personnel should consider when determining
placements.
3. Discuss the difference between LRE, mainstreaming, and inclusion.
4. Explain the following statement: The IDEA requires the maximum integration that will work
for a student.
Chapter 11: Least Restrictive Environment
True or False
Multiple Choice