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Using a Planning Matrix to Determine
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

You’ve come to the final decision of the ARD committee:  Placement.  This is often a difficult concept for families to understand.  Placement refers to the continuum of placements (mainstream, resource, self contained, homebound, etc.).  Placement does not indicate where a student goes to work on various IEP goals.  In other words, where will your child spend the majority of his/her day at school?  It might be the regular education classroom, a resource room or possibly a self-contained kind of setting.  Placement decisions are based on IEP goals and where those goals can best be met, with the Least Restrictive Environment always the priority.  We encourage you to read the articles on inclusive education before your next ARD meeting!

What Placement is NOT:

• Placement decisions are NOT based on disability labels (“We have a wonderful program for kids with autism on the Northside campus”.)
• Placement decisions are NOT based on the types of supports needed (“We work with all the non-verbal kids in the Pre-K room” or “The life-skills classroom is the best place for kids with these kinds of needs” or “Kids with behavior problems go to Ms. Smith’s class” or “If your child needs an aide, they need to be in the resource or life skills class”). 
• Placement decisions are NOT based on what the parent wants or what a school professional wants for the child (“Our school only has a self contained classroom; we don’t have resource” or “My child could never be included - I want my child to be in a special classroom” or “His wheelchair is too big for the regular ed. classroom”).
• Placement decisions should NOT guide the development of the IEP Goals & Objectives (“He is going to be in self contained so we will develop only functional goals” or “She is going to go to XYZ campus and they will only work on life skills there”).  Placement decisions should be made AFTER goals and objectives, based on the needs of the student, have been developed. 

Once the ARD committee has formulated a list of IEP goals and objectives, it will use those same goals to make placement decisions.   Using the Planning Matrix described here, we will walk you through a series of questions to ask yourself and the ARD committee to help you determine where your child can best meet those IEP goals, while staying in the Least Restrictive Environment.  We’ll also offer several “real life, real kids” examples of the planning matrix at different grade levels and support needs.

Step One:
Review the Matrix and its key.  You’ll find a blank Planning Matrix here.

Step Two:
Plug your child’s schedule (or a typical schedule for his/her grade level) into the matrix on the top horizontal (left to right) row.  Insert the IEP goals in the first vertical (up & down) column.  

Step Three:
Consider each goal in the scheduled class setting on the matrix and ask yourself these questions:

1. Can this goal be met in the regular classroom environment just like every other student?  (As is)

• If yes, put a big checkmark and move on to the next goal!
• If no, move to the next question…

2. Can this goal be met in the regular classroom environment with the help of adapted materials?

• If yes, put a checkmark with a “2” beside it to denote that adapted materials will be needed for this goal in this classroom.
• If no, move to the next question…

3. Can this goal be met in the regular classroom environment with the assistance of personal help (who?) and/or some form of equipment (what?)?

• If yes, put a checkmark with a “3” beside it to denote that personal assistance, or related service provider, or some form of equipment will be needed for this goal in this classroom.  Make a note with specifics about who will provide the assistance/service or what form of equipment will be provided.
• If no, move to the next question…

4. Can this goal be met in the regular classroom environment with adapted expectations?

• If yes, put a checkmark with a “4” beside it to denote that the classroom expectations will be adapted for your child to be successful in the class.
• If no, move to the next question…

5. Can this goal be met in the regular classroom environment using an alternative assignment?

• If yes, put a checkmark with a “5” beside it to denote that your child will have alternate assignments for this class.
• If no, move to the next question…

6. Can this goal best be met in an alternative setting rather than the regular classroom environment?

• If yes, the ARD committee will then weigh the remaining options available for your child – perhaps a content mastery class, resource room setting, or (last resort) self-contained setting such as a life-skills classroom.

Look at these example planning matrixes, based on different grade levels and types of IEP goals, to see real-life examples of how the matrix can be used to support placement decisions in the least restrictive environment:

• Planning Matrix:  A First Grade Example
• Planning Matrix:  A Fifth Grade Example
• Planning Matrix:  A Seventh Grade Example
• Planning Matrix:  A Tenth Grade Example

What IS placement then?
So what does this mean?  If placement is not about “where” the child is going to work on his or her goals – why did we do the above exercise?  Well, when you get finished mapping out all the above information on the matrix, the ARD committee will be able to see what percentage of the day the student’s instructional arrangement is “outside” of the regular education classroom.  If all special education supports & related services are provided within the general education classroom during the whole day, then the placement, or instructional arrangement, would be “mainstream”.   

If your child receives supports and services outside of the general education setting, the percentage of the day will determine the “placement in the LRE”.   Simple examples are:

• Resource Room placement would indicate that a student receives special education supports and related services outside of the general education setting for less than 50% of his/her day (i.e. Your student has 7 hour long classes in the day, plus an hour for lunch/recess – then they would be pulled out of the regular education setting for less then 4 hours per day)
• Self Contained placement would indicate that a student receives special education supports and related services outside of the general education setting for more than 50% of the school day.

For more information on various instructional arrangements available along the continuum of placements, please see Texas Administrative Code  §89.63 or the Student Attendance & Accounting Handbook Section 4.6.

If the ARD committee decides that a student needs to receive their special education or related services outside the general ed. setting, the ARD committee must document and describe:

• Any previous efforts to educate the student in the general ed. classroom with supplementary aids & services and why those efforts were not successful;
• Any consideration of educating the student in the general ed. classroom and why those options were rejected;
• The behavior management plan and why it cannot be implemented in the general ed. classroom;
• The methods or curriculum the student needs and why it cannot be implemented in the general ed. classroom; and
• The disability conditions and educational needs and why those conditions and needs require placement in other than the general ed. classroom.

As the ARD committee considers placement, it must think about possible harmful effects as well as potential positive effects that a placement could have on the child.  If the committee decides to remove the child from a regular classroom setting it must ensure that, whenever appropriate, the child will be with other kids who are in regular classes.  One last consideration:  Your child must be educated in the school she would attend if she did not have a disability, typically called your “neighborhood school.”  If the IEP goals require a different placement other than the neighborhood school, the ARD committee must document the specific supplementary aids and services that were considered or tried to support the student on the home campus and why those services/aides were rejected.  

As you and the ARD committee consider placement, be sure to keep an eye on the future.  Where do you envision your child as an adult?  Remember that whatever environment you create for your child when he is young, you must be prepared to replicate that same environment in the adult world.  Not sure about the future?  Read The Future is Coming.

Have high expectations and place your child in the settings that most encourage those high hopes! 

Need to Go Back to review?:

• What’s An IEP? - Overview
• Developing an IEP:  The Five “W’s
• Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance
• Writing Goals and Objectives

Resources:

TEA's Guide to the ARD process

The Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process

Access to The General Curriculum (ESC 20) – LRE Q&A Document

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) Building the Legacy Training Modules – Theme D Individualized Education Programs – See Module 15 on LRE Decision Making

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) - Placement

The Arc of Texas Inclusion Works! Conference  – materials, handouts, etc. from past conferences and link to current conference.

Revolutionary Common Sense Articles by Kathie Snow, Disability Is Natural

• Our Actions: Their Future
• If It’s Written, Is It Done?
• From Inconvenient to Ordinary
• What Will It Take?
• Remember the Bicycle