History of Special Education

By Demetria Johnson

  • 1817 First School

    Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded the first school for students with disabilities. American School for the Deaf originally was called The Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Person. This was the first school established in the United States for children with disabilities. The first enrollment started with seven students. The school lead and taught in American Sign Language.

  • 1840 Education for all children

    Rhode Island was the first state to pass a law mandating that the government must provide education for all children. This was a compulsory law that means that it is a right not guaranteed by the US Constitution. Massachusetts was the second in 1852. Children with disabilities were still excluded from public schools.

  • 1870 School for the Deaf and Blind

    1870 School for the Deaf and Blind
    The West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind were established. The School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind was established to provide a comprehensive education for the hearing impaired and visually impaired. Eligibility was for students who were at least 3 years old with significant hearing or visual loss that would prevent normal progress in the usual public school setting.

  • 1918 Compulsory Education Laws

    All states now established the compulsory education law that began with Rhode Island in 1840. This law requires children to attend a public or state-accredited private school for a certain period of time. Typically, a child school age is six until at least the age of 16.

  • 1954 Brown vs Board of Education

    The US Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” has no place in education. This case was to end segregation in schools. After the decision in the Brown vs Board of Education, parents of children with disabilities began to bring lawsuits against school districts for excluding and separating children with disabilities.

  • 1971 PARC

    Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children sued the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over a law that gave public schools the authority to deny a free education to children who had reached the age of 8 but has not reached the mental age of 5. The case ruled that it is unconstitutional to deny children from the age of 6-21 a free and public education. The education for children with disabilities has to match the education of general students.

  • 1972 Mills vs DC Board of Education

    Peter Mills sued the District of Columbia for denying educational opportunities because they were considered to be exceptional such as mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed and children with behavioral problems. 18,000 cases of children with disabilities in the Washington DC area were being denied education without due process. The ruling stated the students with disabilities must be given a public education even if the student was unable to pay.

  • 1975 Establishment of No Child Left Behind

    Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA), Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 was passed. It has since been reauthorized in 1997 & 2004, and together with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), renamed the "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act of 2001 have dramatically raised expectations and accountability surrounding the education of children with disabilities.

  • 1997 IDEA

    President Clinton signed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendment. This amendment improved the performance and achievement in special education as well as education curriculum. This ensures that all children with disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living. There are 4 Parts distinct parts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66g6TbJbs2g

  • 2001 No Child Let Behind

    “No Child Left Behind” act amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The las held schools accountable for how kids learned and achieve in school. This act was established so that children with disabilities was not excluded from the school’s accountability system. Children with disabilities took the assigned assessment with appropriate accommodations, modifications or took an alternative assessment. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/nclb-dis.html