Timeline of Judicial and Legislative Decisions Impacting Special Education

By ltucker
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    Timeline of Judicial and Legislative Decisions Impacting Special Education

  • Brown v. BOE

    Set the precedent that racial segregation was unacceptable and that ruling was later applied to the inclusiveness of special education.

  • PARC v. Pennsylvania

    The Court ruled that schools could not deny education to students with cognitive disabilities. The Court also mandated a free public education to all students.

  • Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia

    It was ruled that the district had to provide a free public education to disabled students. The ruling also required the resources for disabled students to be equally funded.

  • Section 504 Act

    Prevented federally funded organizations from discriminating against any person with a disability, whether it be apparent or not.

  • Education for All Handicapped Children Act

    This act established individualized education plans for students with disabilities. It also set in place legal measures for parents to dispute educational decisions made about their children.

  • BOE v. Rowley

    This ruling established that schools must provide an appropriate education, not an optimum education.

  • Education of Handicapped Act

    Special education services for students of the preschool age were mandated and extra funding was provided for infant and toddler programs.

  • Honig v. Doe

    The Court ruled that schools may not suspend students for longer than 10 days if their behavior was disability related. Also put responsibility on the state to provide services to students when the local educational agencies could not.

  • Timothy W. v. Rochester, New Hampshire, School District

    The ruling stated that under EAHCA school districts are required to provide an education to students who have severe disabilities.

  • Americans with Disabilities Act

    This act barred any institution from refusing services to disabled students despite the provision of federal financial assistance.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    This law spells out that a free appropriate public education is to be provided to all eligible students with disabilities. It also ensures that they will receive related services.

  • IDEA Amendment

    The amendments addressed procedures to guarantee FAPE, the inclusion of a general education teacher when writing IEPs, the requirement of students with disabilities in state assessments, discipline procedures, transition plans, and individualized approaches to education as access to appropriate education.

  • IDEA Improvement Act

    This law set higher standards for certification to teach special education and increased funding for early intervention.

  • Every Student Succeeds Act

    Replaced NCLB and set a 1% cap on students who were allowed to take alternative assessments.

  • Endrew v. Douglas County

    It was ruled that students with disabilities must have specially designed education to allow for “meaningful” progress, not just “merely more than de minimis”.