The least restrictive environment issue and the mandates of PL 94-142 relative to its implementation are of primary concern to administrators, teachers, and researchers. Service providers to mentally retarded individuals need to be particularly aware of the many factors that impact upon a learning environment, making it more or less restrictive. Because the mentally retarded have inherited a history of isolation and segregation, a child's placement is often equated with environment. Dr. Kenneth E. Wyatt, President of CEC, discusses this and other components that must be considered in determining the most appropriate and least restrictive alternatives for educating mentally retarded individuals. Since 1971, Dr. Wyatt has been Professor of SpecialEducation and Coordinator of SpecialEducation Administration at Georgia State University. Prior to that time he was Coordinator of State Plans and Administration, Coordinator of Crippled and Other Health Impaired Unit, and Chief, SpecialLearning Problems Branch at the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, U.S. Office of Education, Division of Training Programs. Dr. Wyatt currently serves on the working advisory committee of the Policy Options Papers Project at CEC, and is a field reader and reviewpanelistfor the Division of Personnel Preparation at BEH.
Jordan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.