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American School for the Deaf
The American School for the Deaf opened in Hartford, Connecticut and was the first of it's kind to offer services for exceptionalities in the Western hemisphere. -
Columbia Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind
Was the first institution to be approved by Congress to authorize collegiate degrees to exceptional individuals -
Beattie vs. Board of Education
A student had a disability that would cause them to drool and have involuntary facial contortions, while they didn't appear to have intellectual disabilities the student's physical features caused the school to place them in a separate setting. The court ruled in favor of the school in prescribing him a separate setting -
Council for Exceptional Children (Initially the International Council for the Education of Exceptional Children
This council appeared to be the first advocacy group dedicated to ensuring students with exceptionalities receive free and appropriate public education as guaranteed under the law. Initially comprised of 12 members and founded by Elizabeth E. Farrell, -
The Bradley Home (Hospital)
The first neuropsychiatric hospital in the US to serve children. The facility gave first preference to the poor and needy children from Rhode Island, families were only billed if they had the means to pay. -
Forming of the National Association for Retarded Children
First advocacy group of its kind for children with exceptionalities -
Brown v. Board of Education
Set the standard that separate is not equal, laid the foundation for a variety of legal arguments in which parents pushed for their kids to be removed from separate settings and placed with the other school children -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Provided the first of its kind federal funding for schools doing more to help students with exceptionalities -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Called for students with disabilities to be placed in publicly funded schools that meet their individual needs -
Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia
Redefined students with disabilities as students with exceptionalities, further set the standard that students with exceptionalities can't be denied publicly funded education -
Section 504
First of its kind law establishing rights that students with exceptionalities have in school. Set the standard for what we see today in modern schools with accommodations both physical and purely academic. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
Insured that all students with disabilities/exceptionalities received the services that they needed regardless of cost. -
Least Restrictive Environment
Set the standard that students should always be in the least restrictive environment such that if at all possible they should be in the most typical classroom with supports if needed -
Handicapped Children's Protection Act
Protecting the right of free speech for children and parents of children with exceptionalities by ensuring attorney fees, expenses, and costs would be covered in a civil suit for the child. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
A federal law establishing that students with disabilities are provided with free, appropriate public education that is "tailored to their individual needs". Additionally, the law created many aspects of the system we have come to know today including IEPs and parent-student participation in the process. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The law was aimed at preventing discrimination in either school or work settings against individuals with exceptionalities. -
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
The law was the first of its kind to hold schools accountable nationwide. However, along with the push of standards and meeting certain benchmarks, some schools were caught falsifying records and scores in order to have access to the recourses provided under the law. Helped to create a system in which the scores became more important than the actual education of the student. -
IDEA Reauthorization
Overall the reauthorization brought with it much change to the way the law was written and who was protected by it, many of the definitions were altered to better serve a wider array of students in need of assistance. Additionally, the definitions for those who should and are qualified to teach such children changed. -
Texas Violates Federal Law
Texas set enrollment targets for their special education programs across the state at 8.5% regardless of how many students actually needed services in an effort to spend a grant from the federal government designated for students with exceptionalities. They were sued, investigated, and fund to be in the wrong. In 2019 the state had to pay back a little more than a quarter, $223 million, of the grant they had received back to the federal government.