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First Latin Grammar School
The first Latin Grammar school opened in Boston. This school's curriculum was meant for the class of people who would become leaders of religion and government. This included: clergy; ministers; governors; mayors; lawyers; judges; and other men of learning. -
Compulsory Education
Massachusetts Bay Colony made basic education compulsory. This was then adopted in other colonies. These schools could only be attended by boys and the instruction was rote memorization. -
Dame Schools
Dame schools were usually in the homes of women who taught children. The curriculum was letter and number recognition, reading and writing simple words, and memorization of prayers. -
Common School Movement
Horace Mann becomes the first Secretary of the Massachusetts School Board in 1837. He was an advocate for free common school for all children paid with taxes from all citizens. He created a statewide system for professional teachers. -
American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb
This was the first special education school in the United States. It was established in Hartford, Connecticut and is now called the American School for the Deaf. -
Noah Webster's Blue Backed Speller & McGuffey Readers
Most children learned to read, write, and spell using Noah Webster's Blue Backed Speller and McGuffey Readers. Since 1836, 120 million copies of the McGuffey Readers were sold. -
Compulsory Education Act
Massachusetts was the first state to pass a law for compulsory education. This required every town to create and operate a grammar school. It allowed fines to be levied on parents who did not send their child to school. This was the beginning of the compulsory education laws being passed in other states. -
National Education Association
The National Education Association (NEA) was founded to professionalize teaching. 100 educators banded together to promote public education. -
Compulsory Education Law
Mississippi became the last state to pass compulsory education laws. -
Beattie v. Board of Education
The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a ruling where students could be expelled from school due to facial abnormalities and drooling. While the students' mental capacities were fine, fellow students were bothered by their conditions. -
Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional Children was founded by a group of administrators and supervisors attending the summer session at Teachers College, Columbia University. The Council started with 12 members and was founded by Elizabeth Farrell who was their first president. -
Meyer v. Nebraska
Following this case, it was established that students and teachers have rights and are protected by due process. This was the first court case claiming students have civil rights in school. -
Cuyahoga County Ohio Council for the Retarded Children
This group, comprised of five mothers of children with mental retardation, protested their children's exclusion from public school. This lead to the establishment of a special class for children with disabilities. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
This landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This ruling was later applied to laws and ruling for the right of equal access to public areas. -
Learning Disability
At an educational conference in Chicago the term "learning disability" was first used by a psychologist, Samuel A. Kirk. -
Association for Children with Learning Disabilities (ACLD)
The Association for Children with Learning Disabilities (ACLD) was created. Today they are known as the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) and they have chapters in every state. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act was passed and signed by President Lyndon Johnson. Included in this Act was the loss of Federal funds if schools did not integrate. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965. This was one of President Johnson's signature issues. The main feature, Title 1, sent federal dollars to school districts across the nation to raise the achievement of disadvantaged children. -
ADHA
What is now called ADHD first appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). This manual was first used to diagnose conditions. ADHD was called hyperkinetic impulse disorder. -
Congress Passed the Children with Specific Learning Disabilities Act
Congress passed the Children with Specific Learning Disabilities Act, which was included in the Education of the Handicapped Act of 1970. This was the first federal law mandating support services for students with learning disabilities. -
Mills v. Board of Education
Mills v. Board of Education was a suit brought on behalf of over 18,000 children in the District. Based on the 14th Amendment, it claimed that children with disabilities were excluded from public education without due process. -
PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) along with parents of children with mild to severe disabilities, sued the state and won. This case established a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all children with mental retardation between the ages of 6 and 21 in Pennsylvania. -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Congress passed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This banned discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that receive federal funding. -
Education for all Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)
Congress passed Education for all Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA). This Act mandated free appropriate public education for all students. -
Least Restrictive Environment
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) meant that students with IEP must be in as many regular education classes as possible. This will ensure that students with disabilities have social experiences. -
National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)
The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) was created by Pete and Carrie Rozelle. First known as the Foundation for Children with Learning Disabilities, the Rozelles, parents of a child with learning disabilities, wanted to help other families with children with learning disabilities. -
Board of Education v. Rowley
The decision in this case clarified that children with disabilities were entitled to receive an equal and adequate education. However, schools did not need to go above and beyond and provide a sign language interpreter to deaf students who were already receiving FAPE. -
A Nation at Risk
This publication is considered a landmark event in educational history. It highlighted that American schools were failing and it started reform efforts at the local, state, and federal education levels. -
Handicapped Children's Protection Act
Congress passes the Handicapped Children's Protection Act, signed by President Reagan. This gave parents of children with disabilities more say in the development of their child's Individual Education Plan (IEP). -
Honig v. Department of Education
The Honig case landmark decision prohibited schools from excluding students from the classroom due to their disabilities. This decision also gave rise to the need for functional behavioral assessments. -
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This Act banned discrimination against people with disabilities in public spaces and the workplace. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The Education for all Handicapped Children Act become the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This law ensured a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all eligible children with disabilities. The term disabilities replaced handicap. The new law also required transition services for studnets. -
IDEA Amendments of 1997
This was the most recent legislation to address students with disabilities in the re-authorization of IDEA. A change included parents' right to be involved in decision making, guaranteeing parents as members of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team. -
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
President George Bush established a Commission on Excellence in Special Education to collect information and study issues related to special education programs with the goal of improving said programs. NCLB was signed reauthorizing and ammending federal education programs established under the ESEA. -
IDEA 2004
IDEA was reauthorized again. This time school personnel were given more authority for special education placement that would align better with NCLB. Parents were also given more rights. -
Assistive Technology Act
This Act defined assistive technology devices as any item, piece of equipment, or system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities for individuals with disabilities. This ensured that all states establish a core set of program services to increase program consistency. -
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) signed by President Obama in 2015 replaced NCLB. This new law gave each state more power to set their own goals for student achievement within a flexible federal framework. -
Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District
This court case said that schools must provide special education services that help children with disabilities make more than minimal progress in school. This ruling could have a big effect on the future of special education.
