History of Education

By jillianj
  • 390 BCE

    Cleft Palate

    Cleft palate is a congenital abnormality that occurs when the roof of the mouth has not joined completely during prenatal development.
  • 1000

    Blindness

    Blindness is a lack of vision. It may also refer to a loss of vision that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.
  • 1040

    Sensory Integration

    Sensory integration is a term that has been used to describe processes in the brain that allow us to take information we receive from our five senses, organize it, and respond appropriately.

  • Language Pragmatics

    Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics and semiotics that studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning.

  • Dysphonia

    An impairment or change in voice quality that affects the ability to speak or sing.

  • Dyslexia

    Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). In 1881, it was identified by Oswald Berkhan and the term was later coined in 1887 by Rudolf Berlin.

  • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales

    The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is the American adaptation of the original French Binet-Simon intelligence test. It was first introduced in 1916 by Lewis Terman.

  • Council of Exceptional Children (CEC)

    The Council fo Exceptional Children (CEC) was founded in order to organize teachers who were working to help children with exceptionalities.

  • Object Permanence

    Object permanence means knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden. It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e. a schema) of the object.

  • Wechsler Scales of Intelligence

    The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is an intelligence test that was devloped by David Wechsler in 1939. The tests measure one's ability to "adapt and constructively solve problems in the environment." It can be administered to both children and adults.

  • Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)

    Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an eye disease that can happen in premature babies. It causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina, and can lead to blindness. It was first diagnosed in 1942.

  • Behavior Support Plan (BSP)

    A Behavior Support Plan (BSP) is a plan that assists a member in building positive behaviors to replace or reduce a challenging or dangerous behavior.

  • Asperger’s Syndrome (AS)

    Named in 1944, this autism spectrum disorder is characterized by an observable developmental imbalance. On one hand, children with Asperger’s can be of average or superior intelligence; on the other, they are unfailingly years behind in their social development.

  • United Cerebral Palsy Association

    United Cerebral Palsy Association is an international nonprofit charitable organization consisting of a network of affiliates. UCP is a leading service provider and advocate for adults and children with disabilities.

  • Beginnings of Special Programs

    In 1950, the post–World War II era saw the beginnings of special programs for children with exceptionalities (in states such as California and Illinois).

  • The Arc of the United States

    The Arc of the United States is an organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization was founded in the 1950s by parents of people with developmental disabilities.

  • The Kauai Longitudinal Study

    The Kauai Longitudinal Study, conducted from 1952 to 2000, followed individuals from their prenatal care through age 40 and demonstrated that many children who were at risk for developmental delays could achieve success.

  • The Apgar Test

    The Apgar score is a test given to newborns soon after birth. This test checks a baby's heart rate, muscle tone, and other signs to see if extra medical care is needed.

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Began to reaffirm the rights of minority citizens in a wide variety of settings. This set precedent for racial equality nationally in public K-12 schooling. It also began the idea of a right to free and public education.

  • Information Processing Model (IPM)

    The Information Processing Model is a framework used by cognitive psychologists to explain and describe mental processes.

  • Environmental Movement

    Starting around 1960, there was a major movement to stress the important role played by environment, recognizing that many exceptionalities can be created or intensified by various environmental conditions. Researchers reasoned that mild developmental disabilities could be caused by lack of early stimulation or that special gifts and talents emerged only because the environment for some children was incredibly favorable.

  • The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study

    Initiated in 1962, the Perry Project began as a research study seeking the answer to whether access to high-quality education could have a positive impact on preschool children and the communities where they live.

  • Public Law (PL) 88-164

    Public Law (PL) 88-164 authorized funds for training professionals to work with children with special needs and for research and demonstration (the illustration of best practices) for students with intellectual and developmental dis- abilities (IDD) and deafness.

  • The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)

    The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) is a grassroots, nonprofit organization whose thousands of members include individuals with learning disabilities, their families and the professionals who work with them.

  • Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)

    A chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. It wasn't until the late 1960s that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) recognized ADHD as a mental disorder.

  • Rett Syndrome

    Rett Syndrome is a condition included within autism spectrum disorders because its symptoms resemble autism. It is a progressive neurological disorder in which individuals reveal a loss of muscle functions, hand flapping, and autistic behavior. It was first reported in patients of Dr Andreas Rett in 1966.

  • Pervasive Developmental Disorder– Not Otherwise Specified (PDD–NOS)

    (PDD–NOS) refers to a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of socialization and communication skills. Individuals with PDD–NOS usually have some but not all of the full symptoms of autism and, as a result, may not be diagnosed until later on in childhood.

  • Learned Helplessness

    Learned helplessness is a condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed.

  • Handicapped Children’s Early Education Assistance Act

    This act set up twenty model programs, including Head Start, across the United States to demonstrate how working with children with disabilities could improve their lives.

  • Conners-3 ADHD Rating Scale

    Conners-3 ADHD Rating Scale is a thorough assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It also addresses comorbid disorders such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder.

  • Transactional Theory

    Transactional theory describes child development as an ongoing series of reciprocal relations, with a child’s environment exerting influence on behavior, and the child’s behavior in turn influencing the environment.

  • Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    In this case, the court decided that children with IDD could not be excluded from school and did have a right to FAPE and that when the Pennsylvania state constitution said “all children are entitled to a free public education.

  • The Abecedarian Study

    The Abecedarian study randomly assigned infants into two groups in order to examine the impact of quality early child care on children from economically disadvantaged families.

  • Cochlear Implant

    A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device designed to restore the ability to perceive sounds and understand speech by individuals with moderate to profound hearing loss. The first single channel cochlear implant was introduced in 1972.

  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (PL 93-112)

    The key provision of the act says that it is illegal to deny participation in activities or programs solely because of a disability. Individuals with disabilities must have equal access to programs and services.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a four-part piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with Free Appropriate Public Education that is tailored to their individual needs.

  • Public Law (PL) 94-142

    Public Law (PL) 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was designed "to assure that all handicapped children have available to them a free appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs."

  • The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH)

    TASH is an international advocacy association of people with disabilities, their family members, other advocates, and people who work in the disability field.

  • The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability

    The Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities is a set of intelligence tests first developed in 1977 by Richard Woodcock and Mary E. Bonner Johnson. It is designed to measure intellectual ability, academic achievement, scholastic aptitude, cognitive abilities and oral language.

  • Tactile Defensiveness (TD)

    Tactile defensiveness (TD) refers to a pattern of observable behavioral and emotional responses, which are aversive, negative and out of proportion, to certain types of tactile stimuli that most people would find to be non-painful.

  • Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

    Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences that guides the development of flexible learning environments. This approach offers students an equal opportunity to succeed.

  • Public Law (PL) 99-457

    Public Law 99-457, Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986, provided that opportunity by allocating federal funds for the states to develop plans and programs for children and their families from birth on.

  • Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)

    An Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is a plan for special services for young children with developmental delays. The IFSP is similar to the individual education plan (IEP) that is developed for older children.

  • Reciprocal Teaching

    instructional activity that takes the form of a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of text for the purpose of constructing the meaning of text. Reciprocal teaching is a reading technique which is thought to promote students' reading comprehension.

  • The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center

    The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center is a federally funded program on the campus of Gallaudet University that provides information, training, and technical assistance for parents and professionals to meet the needs of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

  • The Helen Keller National Center for Technical Assistance

    The Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) provides intensive vocational rehabilitation services on a national basis to individuals who are deaf-blind through a comprehensive rehabilitation training center.

  • Individualized Education Program

    The Individualized Education Program, often called the IEP, is a document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education.

  • Heredity Movement

    Around 1990, a similar shift in the view of the relative roles of heredity and environment took place. The emphasis was placed on the progressive interac­tion of heredity and environment and the resulting effects of those interactions.

  • Barnett v. Fairfax County Board of Education

    Case where a child with a hearing disability was allowed to attend a school several miles from home instead of a neighborhood school because the centralized program at the special school better met the child’s needs.

  • Greer v. Rome City School District

    Case where a child with Down syndrome was placed in a general education program rather than in a special education class because of the presumed priority of inclusion in IDEA.

  • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992

    The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 (PL 101-336) extends civil rights to persons with disabilities. These rights are guaranteed without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, or religion.

  • Oberti v. Board of Education of the Borough of Clementon School District

    Case where a court ruled that it is the responsibility of the school district to demonstrate that the child’s disabilities are so severe that he or she will receive little benefit from inclusion or will be so disruptive as to keep other classmates from learning.

  • Pharmacological Interventions For ADHD

    Pharmacological inventions include medications such as stimulants (modafinil) and antidepressants (bupropion, venlafaxine, reboxetine, desipramine, imipramine. In 1955, one of the first medications that the FDA approved became Ritalin (methylphenidate).

  • Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

    Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a set of ideas that schools use to improve the behavior of students. It emphasizes preventing problem behaviors before they happen to increase the opportunity for students to learn. It was also first introduced during the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997.

  • Multiple Intelligences

    A list of eight distinct and separate abilities that need specific educational attention: linguistic, logical- mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.

  • Perfectionism

    Perfectionism is the combination of thoughts and behaviors associated with high standards or high expectations for one’s own performance.

  • Public Law 107-110: No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

    The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 has had an impact on all schoolchildren and a special impact on children with disabilities. Its purpose was to hold schools and educators responsible for bringing students to a minimum level of competency.

  • Goals of The Human Genome Project

    The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health were the U.S. sponsors. The initial goals of determining the entire Human Genome were reached in 2003.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004)

    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) is a United States law that mandates equity, accountability and excellence in education for children with disabilities.

  • Response to Intervention (RTI)

    Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs. The RTI process begins with universal screening of all children in the general education classroom.

  • Child Find

    Child Find is a component of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) 2004 that requires States and Local Education Agencies to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities.

  • Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)

    Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is a process that identifies specific target behavior, the purpose of the behavior, and what factors maintain the behavior that is interfering with the student's educational progress. It a part of the positive behavioral support (PBS) mandated by IDEA 2004.

  • Henrico County School Board v. R.T., 2006

    Case where a child with autism was awarded reimbursement for private school costs because the judge found that the public school system knowingly and repeatedly failed to provide an appropriate educational program.

  • Universal design for learning (UDL)

    Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.

  • L.I. v. Maine School Administrative District

    In this case, a child with Asperger’s syndrome was denied special education services because she was performing well academically. She had attempted suicide and was determined by a psychiatrist to be depressed. The court determined that she should have special education.

  • Winkleman v. Parma City School District

    Case where the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that parental participation in the special education process is crucial to ensuring that children with disabilities receive a FAPE.

  • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

    The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulated economic activity in a number of areas, including financial and social institutions, and education, to ensure the long-time economic health of our nation.

  • The Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

    The Common Core State Standards Initiative is an educational initiative that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the conclusion of each school grade.

  • Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG)

    Academically or intellectually gifted (AIG) students perform or show the potential to perform at substantially high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experiences or environment.