-
U.S. Army created a group intelligence assessment
The U.S. Army created a new group intelligence assessment that was less time consuming and required less training to administer. This assessment led to more common use of intelligence screening by schools. -
World War I
The war led to a public focus on the need for rehabilitation services. -
Brown v. Board of Education (Kansas)
Court ruling: "Separate-but-equal" education was deemed illegal. -
Training of Professional Personnel Act
This legislation helped train individuals to educate children with mental retardation. -
Kirk coined the term "learning disabilities"
Samuel Kirk was a special educator who suggested using the term "learning disabilities" to describe characteristics of students who performed below their peers academically without displaying signs of other disabilities. -
Advocacy groups related to learning disabilities formed
The new terminology of "learning disabilities" led to the creation of advocacy groups for individuals who had characteristics of learning disabilities. -
Diana v. State Board of Education (California)
The decision was that culturally biased tests cannot be used as a basis for placing students into special education. -
Mills v. Board of Education
The ruling enforced the concept that a free education cannot be denied a student due to the existence of a disability. -
Education of the Handicapped Act
Many individuals consider this act the to be the first appearance of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), though it was not known by the terminology at the time. -
Gifted and Talented Children's Education Act
Financial incentives were established for local and state educational agencies to create programs to serve gifted and talented students. -
Honig v. Doe (California)
Court decision: Suspensions of longer than 10 days are to be treated as a change in placement. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
This was, in a sense, a reauthorization of the Education of the Handicapped Act under a new name, as the two acts covered many of the same topics. IDEA became the more commonly used terminology at this point. -
Justification for the use of (RTI)
There is no specific legislation designed specifically for Response to Intervention (RTI) models. However, legal justification for the use of RTI techniques can be linked directly to IDEA. This is due to IDEA's guarantee for free appropriate public education (FAPE). -
Oberti v. Board of Education of the Borough of Clementon
Court ruling: School districts cannot place students into self-contained special education classes without considering regular class placement involving supplementary aids and services. -
Reauthorization of IDEA
Congress reauthorized IDEA and added new provisions to the act. The new provisions called for parent and student involvement in the student's education plan. The provisions also encouraged students to be placed in their normal classrooms as much as possible and required general education teachers to be involved in the education of students with disabilities. -
IDEA '97: Further Justificaiton for RTI
IDEA '97 was a major stepping stone toward the common use of RTI, as school systems essentially had a legal requirement to provide free adequate public education within normal classroom environments. -
Schools focus on assessments aligned with academic standards
The No Child Left Behind Act led to schools developing new assessments that were aligned with academic standards. -
My opinion on the future of inclusion
The focus on inclusive classrooms will continue into the near future and there will likely be additional legislation put into effect to help ensure FAPE is being provided. I think classrooms as a whole will move to a more individualized learning experience that might have students learning in unique environments, thus changing our concept of "least restrictive environments."