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Council for Exceptional Children, founded
The Council for the Education of Exceptional Children is organized by a group of administrators and supervisors attending the summer session at Teachers College, Columbia University, and their faculty members on August 10, 1922. It becomes one of the largest professional associations of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities. They accomplish their mission through advocacy, standards, and professional development. -
Brown v. Board of Education (Inclusivity)
In Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that school segregation by race was not constitutional, even if resources were allotted equally. This landmark case of inclusivity laid the framework for the 1975 legislation that would require free appropriate education for all children with disabilities. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) passed in 1965 initiated the role of the federal government in protecting and providing for students from disadvantaged backgrounds so that they would have equal access to the public education system. It was part of a national effort to equal access to quality education. It serves as the foundation or nearly every education act that follows and has been reauthorized every five years under different names ever since. -
Academic Journal TEACHING Exceptional Children, established
Established in 1968, TEACHING Exceptional Children is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of special education. It features research-to-practice information and materials for classroom use, as well as current issues in special education teaching and learning. The journal exchanges the latest data on instructional technologies, strategies, procedures, and techniques with applications to students with exceptionalities. -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
The state of Pennsylvania acknowledges its responsibility to provide all students free and appropriate education. A group of parents, of whose children had been identified as mentally retarded, successfully challenged the state law that absolved school districts of responsibility for educating students deemed to be “uneducable” or “untrainable” -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), in 1975, to support states and localities in protecting the rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and improving the results for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families. The act required all schools accepting federal funds to evaluate children with disabilities and create an individual education plan with the close support of parents. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Originally known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act IDEA was the reauthorization that ensures that all students with a disability are provided with Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) tailored to their individual needs. The goal of IDEA was to focus on the individual and not the condition they may have. It also included confidentiality of information, transition services, and discipline which allowed for civil litigation. -
No Child Left Behind (NCLB), 2002
An act to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind. Like many of its predecessors, NCLB reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It did, however, expand the federal role in public education by requiring annual assessments of students, teachers, and schools tied to funding. It included a basic skills assessment. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA)
US Department of Education's IDEIA is the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, renamed to IDEIA to include the improvements of further education. The act incorporates the goal to transition to independent living. It provides students with disabilities access to educational programs after high school. -
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), 2017
An original bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that every child achieves. It replaced the No Child Left Behind, 2002, act. It retained the standardized testing but shifted the law's federal accountability provisions back to the states to determine the standards student will be held to.
