When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997, it authorized an evaluation to track progress at the state and local levels on the legislative goals of IDEA. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) commissioned a national longitudinal study, the Study of State and Local Implementation and Impact of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (SLIIDEA), toward that end. This document synthesizes information from SLIIDEA pertaining to the placing and serving of children with disabilities, including minority children, in the LRE as reflected in data from the 2002-03 school year. This synthesis brief was completed by Project Forum at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) as part of its cooperative agreement with OSEP. (Contains 3 footnotes.)