Description:

State and federal special education law require students with disabilities to be placed in the least restrictive environment. But what does that mean? Why do placements in the least restrictive environment differ among students, including our youngest early learners?

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will learn what “least restrictive environment” means under federal and state special education law.
• Attendees will understand the requirement for IEP teams, including parents, to consider a continuum of placement options.
• Attendees will learn how least restrictive environment can look different for early learners than for school age children.

Presenters:

Marge Resan is a School Administration Consultant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Marge has worked for the department since 2007. Her work focuses on special education legal compliance issues. She is the lead consultant for the state IDEA complaint process. Marge was a special education teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District for several years where she taught many students with disabilities in classroom, community, and vocational settings. She holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and has worked as an attorney in the areas of disability and elder law.

Jenny Bibler is the Early Childhood Consultant on the Special Education Team at the Department of Public Instruction, and the Wisconsin 619 Coordinator for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) 619 Affinity Group. Going into her 13th year at DPI, Jenny previously held the position of Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator at the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) and has served as a member of the NASDSE 619 Executive Council. Jenny has been teaching experience in public and private Pre-K, Kindergarten, early childhood special education, and has worked as a transition coordinator for the Sooner Start Program, OSDE Part C Early Intervention. Her interests are cooking, working in the yard, camping in their vintage Airstream, and walking her two beloved Chorkies, Della and Tessa, everyday.