Inclusion/LRE

Developing IEPs that Support Inclusive Education for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities

This parent brief from the TIES Center focuses on developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) that support inclusive education for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. This is especially critical for students who participate in a state alternate assessment aligned to alternate academic achievement standards. The brief identifies specific ways in which the IEPs of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities can be written to support inclusion in the general education curriculum and, ideally, the general education classroom. Find out more about this brief, the TIES Center itself, and what other great materials it offers.

Taking the Alternate Assessment Does NOT Mean Education in a Separate Setting!

This 4-page Parent Brief from the TIES Center focuses on alternate assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. As the brief’s title indicates, the fact that a student will be taking the alternative assessment does not mean that he or she then needs to be educated in a separate, non-inclusive setting. The brief reviews IDEA’s least restrictive environment (LRE) provisions and other legal provisions that support inclusion in the regular classroom. It also provides guidance to parents on what to say and stress in the IEP meeting. The brief closes with “Next Steps for Parents” and a short list of additional resources.

Download the brief and find out more about the TIES Center’s other materials for parents.

Partners in Education | Online Module

(2014) | Available in English and Spanish | Useful to parents of children with developmental disabilities. This 3-hour self-directed course was created to help parents of children with developmental disabilities understand and maximize the special education system. The course focuses on: a child’s right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE), the laws that protect […]

Launching Inclusive Efforts Through Community Conversations

A community conversation is a way to bring a diverse set of community members together to collectively brainstorm strategies and resources that can be used to address a challenge facing the community. Launching Inclusive Efforts Through Community Conversations is a practical guide for families, service providers, and communities in planning, holding, and following up on a community conversation about some aspect of inclusion of children, youth, or adults with disabilities, such as increasing access to the general curriculum or meaningful work opportunities for youth. As the guide states: “We can create the future we want to see by starting with the power and connections we have.”

Find out more about the guide and where to access it.

Webinar | Featuring New Resources on Inclusion and Discipline

In this webinar, the CPIR unveiled two new products developed specifically for Parent Centers: (1) an Inclusion Curriculum that includes a trainer’s guide and a customizable PowerPoint and handouts; and (2) a Resource Collection on Positive Behavior Supports and School Discipline that includes a wide variety of materials such as PowerPoints, fact sheets, guides, and videos on the subject.

11 Questions to Ask About Your Child’s Resource Room Placement

(2017, February) | Useful to Parent Centers working with families. Good for sharing with parents! This article from Friendship Circle offers parents of children with disabilities a guiding list of 11 questions to ask if the school is proposing that their child receive part of his or her special education in a resource room, rather […]

School Inclusion

Updated, 2017 Looking for information about inclusion of children with disabilities in our schools and communities? The CPIR is very pleased to offer you this resource page, which will connect you with the great work and materials of the disability network nationwide and internationally. Inclusion is part of a much larger picture than just placement […]

Considering LRE in Placement Decisions

Least restrictive environment, or LRE as it is more commonly called, is one of several vital components in the development of a child’s IEP and plays a critical role, influencing where a child spends his or her time at school, how services are provided, and the relationships the child develops within the school and community. Indeed, LRE is a foundational element in building an appropriate IEP that can improve outcomes for a child—in school and in life.

Placement Issues

Current as of September 2017 This information in Spanish | Esta información en español Where will a student with a disability receive his or her special education and related services? IDEA requires placement in the least restrictive environment (LRE) for each child, a setting that is based on the child’s IEP. Use the options and […]

Placement, Short-and-Sweet

Once the IEP team has decided what services a child needs, a decision must be made about where services will be provided. Where the child’s IEP is carried out is called placement. Parents have the right to be part of the group that decides the child’s placement.

In deciding the child’s placement, the group must make sure that the child has the maximum opportunity appropriate to learn with children who do not have disabilities—in academic, nonacademic, and extracurricular activities. This part of IDEA is called Least Restrictive Environment or LRE.