Special Education Timeline

  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

    This law helped provide money to schools to help with the underprivileged students. This act was amended to help with the education of "handicapped" children.
  • Rehabilitation Act of 1973

    This act forbids discrimination against disabilities in schools
  • The Education for All Handicapped Children Act

    This law was passed by Congress in 1975 and was the first law that was for children who had physical and mental disabilities. This law said that public schools must give all children who have special needs with the same chance of an education as other children. Also, the school must give at least one free meal to the students.
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    Created in 1990, this law is to make sure that all students who are special needs receive a free education in an environment with little restrictions to meet the needs of those students.
  • The Assistive Technology Act

    This law made sure schools provided students with special needs with technology to allow better participation in school.
  • No Child Left Behind

    This act wanted schools to be accountable for the students performance in their academics no matter if they had a disability or not. This included developing routine assessments, push for progress in students with special needs, and to allow students to seek emotional, academic, and social help if needed from alternative ways.