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First Special Education School Established
In 1760, the National Institute for the Deaf opened in Paris, becoming the first school to specifically serve people with special needs. This is significant, because it set a precedent for educating those with special needs and broke a mindset and practice of not educating people with disabilities. -
First Textbook on Special Needs Published
in 1801, the French physician Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard published the first textbook on specifically teaching children with special needs. This is signficant, because it is the start of a wider movement of people thinking about how to educate people with special needs and recognizing that it might look a little different than educating people without disabilities. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Civil Rights legislation of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka deemed that schools could not be separate but equal. Being separate made them inherently unequal. This is significant, because special education legistlation had and has its basis in this ruling based on this premise on inherently unequal separate educational facilities. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments (PL 89-313)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1965 created the first program to provide funding at the state-level for children with disabilities, but this program was optional for schools. This is significant, because it is the first time that public funds were made available to further the education of students with disabilities. -
Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Colombia
This court case affirmed the rights of deinstitutionalization, individualized planning, least restrictive environment, and due process for children with disabilities. This is signficant, because it affirmed basic rights of children with disabilities and that the student's right to education was greater than the school district's financial state. Mills vs. board of education of district of colombia. (2013, February 2). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_vs._Board_of_Education -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendment
This piece of legislation affirmed the right to education for individuals with disabilities, including those with "minor" disabilities such as ADHD and broadened disability services. This is signficant, because it broadened disability services by protecting discrimination because of having a disability. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142)
This act was the culmination of all the previous special education legislature and court cases. It mandated equal access to education for children with disabilities and mandated schools to provide services to assist children with disabilites in various ways, such as the Inidividualized Education Plan. This is significant, because schools were now required to educate children with disabilites, and this act provided a framework for how that was to be done. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act made discrimation illegal on the basis of an individual having a disability. This is significant, because schools could not discriminate against a student or refuse to provide them an education because that student had a disability. -
IDEA
IDEA was an extension of EAHCA. It extended EAHCA's reach to include children through the age of 21 and to provide transition services for students beginning at age 14. It also contained child-first language, identifying the child and then the disability. IDEA also extended the types of disabilities that were to be covered in this legislation. -
No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind required schools to test students with disabilities and to include their scores with the scores of general education students when reporting. This is signficant, because it influenced how students with disabilites are educated, whether positively or negatively. For example, it helped to ensure maximum inclusion of special education students in general education classes, but it could also influence teachers to focus too much on having SPED students perform well on tests.
