In this dissertation, I describe patterns of educational placement for students with disabilities, test the degree to which placement is impacted by student and school variables, and offer practical guidance for how schools can promote the principle of least restrictive environment (LRE) to promote access to general education classrooms to the maximum extent appropriate. It consists of a brief introduction, three stand-alone papers and a research statement. Chapter 1 presents brief background information to introduce the research questions posed in Chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 2 presents a longitudinal analysis of state level educational placement data for students with intellectual disability and tests the influence of urbanicity on placement patterns. Chapter 3 presents a series of multivariate logistic regression models examining educational placement from a nationally representative sample of students with disabilities and examines the influence of urbanicity, disability, race, and ethnicity on students? educational placement during language arts, math, and non-academic courses. Chapter 4 is a practitioner paper that provides tools for educational teams to use when deciding on the appropriate educational environment for students with disabilities. Finally, Chapter 5 provides a research statement that discusses the place of this dissertation in my work and future directions for my research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]