The History of Special Education

By tleggett

  • Compulsary Education Law

    Rhode Island was the first state to pass a law saying that all students were required to go to school for a certain amount of time (Lodge Rogers, Yell, & Rogers, 1998, p. 219). They were shortly followed by other states like Massachusettes and eventually other states (Lodge Rogers, Yell, & Rogers, 1998, p. 219). Even with these laws, students with disabilities were still excluded from education (Lodge Rogers, Yell, & Rogers, 1998, p. 219).

  • The White House Conference of 1910

    This was the first conference that brought national attention to defining and establishing remedial programs for the special needs children of the country(Lodge Rogers, Yell, & Rogers, 1998, p. 221).

  • Organization of Advocacy Groups

    Parents advocating for their children in Cuyahoga County, Ohio were the first parental advocates to form a group together called The Cuyahoga County Ohio Council for the Retarded Child to fight their children still being excluded from school (Lodge Rogers, Yell, & Rogers, 1998, p. 221).

  • Brown vs. the Board of Education

    This case allowed children of different races to go to previously segregated schools (Yell, n.d.). This opened doors for others to fight for the rights of others that were being discriminated against because of being a special needs student (Yell, n.d.).

  • Education of the Handicapped Act

    This act gave grants to colleges and universities so they could train special education teachers and expanded state grants for students with special needs and made regional special education resource centers (Yell, n.d.).

  • PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    This case forced the state of Pennsylvania to provide a free and appropriate public education to people that were mentally retarded (Yell, n.d.).

  • Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia

    This is a case that built off of Brown vs. the Board of Education by saying since it was unconstitutional not to let children come to school because of race, therefore students with special needs should not be discriminated against either (Yell, n.d.).

  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

    Section 504 was the first federal civil rights law to protect people with disabilities by saying that no person with a disability can be discriminated against by any activity receiving federal government funding (Yell, n.d.).

  • Education for All Handicapped Children Act

    The Education for All Handicapped Children Act made it possible for students with disabilities to receive a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (Yell, n.d.). It also required schools to make IEPs and procedural safeguards (Yell, n.d.).

  • Education of the Handicapped Amendments

    Congress acknowledged the importance of early intervention for students with developmental disabilities by offering grants to those states providing early intervention programs for children birth to three years old (Yell, n.d.). It also required individual family service plans for the children and their families (Yell, n.d.).

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

    New disabilities such as Autism and traumatic brain injury were added as IDEA disabilities categories (Yell, n.d.). A transition requirement was added for IEPs of children 16 years or older (Yell, n.d.). This act used a "people first" language meaning a disabled student was now called a student with disabilities (Yell, n.d.). States were made to understand they could be sued under the 11th Amendment for violations of this act (Yell, n.d.).

  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

    ADA was signed by President Bush protecting people with disabilities from discrimination in both public and private aspects (Yell.n.d.). As for special education, ADA reinforced and extended Section 504 that prevented discrimination of people with special needs by anyone that received federal funds (Yell, n.d.).

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments

    With these amendments, we saw the reorganization of IDEA (Yell, n.d.). These amendments made improvements to the IEP and IEP teams ensuring that students with disabilities received a quality education with higher expectations (Yell, n.d.). Parents were now offered mediation before reaching the hearing phase (Yell, n.d.).

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act

    This is the act that defined what qualities a highly educated special education teacher should have (Yell, n.d.). Moved away from using a discrepancy formula to figure out eligibility and introduced the use of the RTI model to learn if a child had a disability (Yell, n.d.).