History of Inclusion

By fawniedoe2

  • Late 1700s

    Physician Benjamin Rush introduced concept of educating people with disabilities

  • Thomas Jefferson

    First state supported plan proposed by Thomas Jefferson to provide the poor of Virginia with an education but was rejected by well-to-do citizens

  • Horace Mann

    Late 1800s - early 1900s - Horace Mann proposed Americanizing the massive influx of arivving immigrants

  • Thomas Gallaudet

    First educational program for individuals with disabilities established by Thomas Gallaudet at the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb in Connecticut

  • 1842 - 1918

    Publicly supported education was adopted and all states passed compulsory education attendance laws

  • Separate but Equal

    "Separate but equal" mandate nationally adopted by the Supreme Court and provided the impetus to condone segregation in the schools

  • Early 1900s

    nearly every state had built institutions for people considered blind, deaf, or "mentally retarded"

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that "separate is not equal"

  • The Arc

    The Arc (The National Association for Retarded Citizens) formed

  • Special Education Teachers

    Congress authorized funds to support preparing special education teachers

  • Special Education leaders

    A group of special education leaders began advocating for the rights of students with disabilities to learn alongside their nondisabled peers in more normalized school environments

  • Free and appropriate education

    1971 to 1972 - the right of all children labeled as "mentally retarded" to a free and appropriate education and made it more difficult for students with disabilities to be excluded from public schools

  • Public Law 94-142

    Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) passed and now known as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)

  • Public School Programs

    All states passed laws subsidizing public school programs for students with disabilities

  • IDEA

    IDEA states no child, regardless of disability, can be denied an appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment

  • Reauthorization of IDEA

    Reauthorization of IDEA requires that placement of students with disabilities be based on identified needs rather than categorical labels

  • IDEA and higher standards

    IDEA addressed the need for higher standards of educational performance for all students and teachers, including those in special education