IDEA's Five Principles: FAPE, LRE, and Special Education Law

Overview of IDEA and Its Five Core Principles

Originally enacted by Congress in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was designed to "ensure that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education, just like other children" (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2010). The most recent version of IDEA is comprised of four major parts: the general provisions; assistance for the education of all children with disabilities; provisions for infants and toddlers with disabilities; and national activities to improve education for children with disabilities (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2010). Within the act, there are five major principles that govern the education of children with disabilities: zero reject, free appropriate public education (FAPE), least restrictive environment (LRE), protection in evaluation, and procedural due process.

Foremost, the principle of zero reject "ensures that all children receive a free and appropriate public education, no matter how severe their disability" (Philadelphia Mental Retardation Services, 2005). In essence, a child cannot be excluded from a public education because the school system believes the child is too disabled to learn or exhibits inappropriate behavior resulting from the disability. This principle guarantees that no child faces rejection from the public education system on the basis of disability.

The concept of free appropriate public education (FAPE) is one of the broader principles explored in IDEA. FAPE holds "that every student with a disability has a right to an education which benefits them, meaning that they make real, not trivial, progress and do not regress," and also that "an appropriate education includes specially designed instruction (special education) and related services which the student needs to make progress" (Philadelphia Mental Retardation Services, 2005). Children with disabilities should have access to an education tailored to their needs, including specialized curricula and appropriately trained teachers. At its core, FAPE ensures that all children have equal access to education regardless of disability.

The concept of least restrictive environment (LRE) "states that children with disabilities have a right to be educated, to the maximum extent appropriate, with children without disabilities" (Philadelphia Mental Retardation Services, 2005). This principle attempts to ensure that children with disabilities are included in general educational settings wherever possible, reflecting the broader value of inclusion in public schooling.

The fourth principle, protection in evaluation, establishes the right of parents "to be notified of all evaluations and reevaluations, receive copies of all evaluations and documentation, have access to student records, and to be full members of both the team which evaluates the student and the team which develops the IEP" (Philadelphia Mental Retardation Services, 2005). Because children with disabilities may not be aware that they are being evaluated, it would be unjust for a school to act on evaluation results without parental notification. The protection in evaluation principle therefore shields the child from unfair actions taken without appropriate oversight.

Finally, procedural due process holds schools and parents mutually accountable. When "parents and schools disagree, IDEA provides for them to participate in mediation and, if that is unsuccessful, to have a due process hearing" before "a disinterested person called a due process hearing officer," with the result that "whoever loses at the due process hearing has the right to appeal their case at a higher court" (Philadelphia Mental Retardation Services, 2005). This principle is vital because it ensures that, when schools and parents cannot reach agreement, a child's rights can be formally adjudicated and protected.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE): Definition and Components

The free appropriate public education concept, or FAPE, "protects the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance, including federal funds" (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2010). According to the U.S. Department of Education, it "requires a school district to provide a 'free appropriate public education' to each qualified person with a disability who is in the school district's jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the person's disability" (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2010).

Individuals entitled to FAPE include "all qualified persons with disabilities within the jurisdiction of a school district." A person with a disability is defined as "any person who: (i) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, (ii) has a record of such an impairment, or (iii) is regarded as having such an impairment" (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2010). A fundamental component of understanding FAPE is also understanding how "appropriate education" is defined. According to the U.S. Department of Education, "an appropriate education may comprise education in regular classes, education in regular classes with the use of related aids and services, or special education and related services in separate classrooms for all or portions of the school day," which may include "specially designed instruction in classrooms, at home, or in private or public institutions, and may be accompanied by related services such as speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy, psychological counseling, and medical diagnostic services necessary to the child's education" (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2010).

Some essential components of FAPE include the following: education services must meet individual needs; students with disabilities must be educated alongside nondisabled students to the extent appropriate; evaluation and placement decisions must be made through proper procedures; and recipients must have access to due process procedures for the review of identification, evaluation, and placement decisions.

The primary vehicle through which school districts provide FAPE to students with disabilities is special education programming, including the hiring of teachers who have specialized training in working with students who have cognitive or developmental disabilities. It is important that these students receive instruction adapted to how they process information. In some settings, this may mean having two teachers in a classroom — one focused on general instruction and one supporting students with disabilities — so that disabled students are meaningfully included alongside their nondisabled peers.

The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Principle

Another major component of IDEA is the principle of the least restrictive environment (LRE). "The least restrictive environment (LRE) requirement is often referred to as 'mainstreaming'" (Wright and Wright, 2009). The major elements of the LRE principle include the process of inclusion in general education classrooms, as well as what is known as the "continuum of alternative placements." Mainstreaming involves integrating students with disabilities into classrooms alongside nondisabled peers so that they may learn in a shared setting.

In 1991, the U.S. Court of Appeals articulated the purpose and end goals of the mainstreaming or inclusion policy underlying LRE: "Under the Act, mainstreaming is a policy to be pursued so long as it is consistent with the Act's primary goal of providing disabled students with an appropriate education," and "where necessary for educational reasons, mainstreaming assumes a subordinate role in formulating an educational program" (Wright and Wright, 2009). The purpose of inclusion was to prevent schools and school districts from segregating students with disabilities from their nondisabled peers.