Education in American History

  • Civil Rights Act Title VI

    Civil Rights Act Title VI
    ***Congress adds Title VI to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 creating a Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (this bureau today is called the Office of Special Education Programs or OSEP). Educating students with disabilities is still NOT mandated by federal or state law. However, creation of the Bureau signified that a change was on the horizon. Because of this act, schools and the nation began to desegregate.
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    Common Schools

    the predecessors of the public schools and systems of the U.S. A common school was a public school in the U.S. and Canada in the nineteenth century. Common schools were quasi-public, originally mandated by colonial, and subsequently by state and governments. They offered an elementary level of schooling.
  • Supreme Court Decisons

    Supreme Court Decisons
    Two significant supreme court decisions [PARC v. Pennsylvania (1972) and Mills v. D.C. Board of Education (1972)] apply the equal protection argument to students with disabilities. The courts take the position that children with disabilities have an equal right to access education as their non-disabled peers. Although there is no existing federal law that mandates this stance, some students begin going to school as a result of these court decisions.
  • Rehabilitation Act

    Rehabilitation Act
    Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is enacted into statute. This national law protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability.enacted into statute. This national law was enacted with little fanfare. Most educators were not aware that this applied to public schools.
  • The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act

    The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
    ***The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is enacted. Parents are allowed to have access to all personally identifiable information collected, maintained, or used by a school district regarding their child.
  • The Education of All Handicapped Children Act

    The Education of All Handicapped Children Act
    The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) is enacted. This was also known as P.L. 94-142. Today we know this law as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).Before 1975, children with disabilities were mostly denied an education solely on the basis of their disabilities. EAHCA, along with some key supreme court cases, mandated all school districts to educate students with disabilities.
  • The Education for All Handicapped Children Act

    The Education for All Handicapped Children Act
    The final federal regulations of EAHCA are released. The final federal regulations are enacted at the start of the 1977-1978 school year and provide a set of rules in which school districts must adhere to when providing an education to students with disabilities.
  • A Nation at Risk

    A Nation at Risk
    ***The Imperative for Educational Reform is the report of American President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education. Its publication is considered a landmark event in modern American educational history because it changed standards for teaching and teachers.
  • The Education for All Handicapped Children Act

    The Education for All Handicapped Children Act
    The EAHCA is amended with the addition of the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act.This amendment makes clear that students and parents have rights under EAHCA (now IDEA) and Section 504.
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act

    The Americans with Disabilities Act
    ***The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is enacted. ADA adopts the Section 504 regulations as part of the ADA statute. In turn, numerous “504 Plans” for individual students start to become more common place in school districts.
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    ***The EAHCA is amended and is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).This amendment calls for many changes to the old law. One of the biggest was the addition of transition services for students with disabilities. School Districts were now required to look at outcomes and assisting students with disabilities in transitioning from high school to postsecondary life.
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    IDEA reauthorized. This amendment calls for students with disabilities to be included in on state and district-wide assessments. Also, Regular Education Teachers are now required to be a member of the IEP team.
  • No Child Left Behind Act

    No Child Left Behind Act
    ***No Child Left Behind is enacted, it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. This law calls for all students, including students with disabilities, to be proficient in math and reading.
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    IDEA reauthorized. There are several changes from the 1997 reauthorization. The biggest changes call for more accountability at the state and local levels, as more data on outcomes is required. Another notable change involves school districts providing adequate instruction and intervention for students to help keep them out of special education.
  • Every Student Suceeds Act

    Every Student Suceeds Act
    ***The law replaced its unpopular predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and modified but did not eliminate provisions relating to the periodic standardized tests given to students. Like the No Child Left Behind Act, ESSA is a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which established the American federal government's expanded role in funding public education.The Every Student Succeeds Act passed both chambers of Congress with strong bipartisan suppo