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Prior to the movements for equal rights, student with disabilities often did not have access to a free, public education. Parents and other advocates gave students a "voice" at the local, state, and federal level that continue to influence policy makers to create change.

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There have been a number of events that have shaped our special education system as we know it today. Here are a few events that have done that. The first advocacy groups for SPED services started advocating for their children as far back as 1933, however the majority of larger movements began in the 1950's,

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Equal rights for students of color. It helped to lead the way to for our understanding that everyone--no matter their race, gender, or ability level, had the right to a public education (Esteves & Rao, 2008).

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1950’s The ARC (1950)
Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)

1960’s Association for Children with Learning Disabilities

1970’s

•Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law)

•Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)

1980’s
Amendments of Education of the Handicapped Children (1986)

1990’s

•Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

•IDEA (1990)

•Expanded in 1997
2000’s

•No Child Left Behind
•IDEA Reauthorized (2004)
•RTI

•American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

2010’s

•Every Student Succeeds Act (2015)

•Response to Intervention

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The LDA created a working definition of "learning disability" into federal law (LDA History, 2018)
One of the first education specific movements was the Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) of America (formed in 1963). The LDA defined the need for education for children with diverse needs who were often denied eduction.

Federal Legislation Passed!
The Children with Specific Learning Disabilities Act of 1969

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Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)

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Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)

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•Least restrictive environment allows maximum opportunity

•Individualized education program introduced

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This was a huge breakthrough in SPED history. This law prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities (Section 504). With this law, if schools receive federal financial assistance, it required students with disabilities to have access to schools.

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Students with disabilities now have access to schools. To what extent though?

This impacted curriculum, program access, building access, and access to activities. Meaning, students with disabilities must  be able to physically access the school, and take part in activities.

"Close to 95 percent of students with disabilities are being educated in local general education schools, and 75 percent receive either full inclusion or a combination of inclusive and pull-out resource-room services" (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).

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IDEA's Impact on Student/Learning Outcomes

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IDEA's Impact on Student/Learning Outcomes

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Students now had access to transition services

Parents are required to know their rights for their students, and involved in the IEP planning process.

2007 Reauthorization

Supports for students to follow general curriculum

Expectations for students was raised

Focus on academic outcomes & school-to-work programs for students to ensure their success after graduation was emphasized

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Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)

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Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)

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Children with disabilities were given specific rights to an education

Children with mild disabilities were mainstreamed due to parent advocacy (Causton & Tracy Bronson, 2015).

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Prior to IDEA, over 4 million children with disabilities were denied appropriate access to public education; many  were denied entry into public school altogether, while others were placed in segregated classrooms, or in regular classrooms without adequate support for their special needs. (Katsiyannis, Yell, Bradley, 2001; Martin, Martin, Terman, 1996; U.S. Department of Education, 2010).

Focused on parental rights to be involved

Elaborated on inclusion of children with disabilities

2007 Reauthorization

School-to-work transition planning gained traction

Assist states to determine appropriate outcomes for students

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Further strides are being made every day to ensure students with disabilities get the best education possible, and the best future outcome!

IDEA Reauthorization  (2004)

Reiterates that special education should be designed to meet student’s “unique needs”

Access to general education to maximum extent possible

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (2015)

Gives more control to states and districts to determine testing standards of students (Green, 2017).

Emphasis on reducing bullying

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Students with disabilities are required to be included on state/district tests--only 1% are excused from testing (Samuels, 2016)

Protection for students against bullying

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A multi-tiered system of supports for students--began gaining traction in 2004

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Knowing the history of SPED helps classroom teachers understand "why" certain laws are in place, and ensure they can give their students the best education possible.
Historically, students who receive SPED services have received their education in a self-contained classroom. Classroom teachers everywhere will need to know the laws and requirements when they have students on and IEP or 504 in their classroom.

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As we progress as a society, there is a push for equality and inclusion. Teachers need to understand the requirements of inclusion, and work to make their classrooms as accessible as possible.

When a student does not receive education services with the general population, teachers must now explain "why" and justify their choices (Esteves & Rao, 2008).

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Teachers are innovative and can be an advocate for change at the local, state, and federal level. They have first hand knowledge about what works, and what does not work in the field of education, and special education.

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Burney, D. (2015). The impact of reforms and interventions on K-12 education (Educational psychology collection).

Cook, B., Landrum, T., Tankersle, B., Bateman, M., Tankersle, Melody, & Bateman, Barbara. (2014). Special education past, present, and future : Perspectives from the field (First ed., Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities).
Giordano, G. (2007). American special education : A history of early political advocacy. New York: P. Lang.

Esteves, K. & Rao, S. (2008) https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/resources/1/Principal/2008/N-Oweb2.pdf
Green, Erica L (July 7, 2017). "DeVos's Hard Line on New Education Law Surprises States". The New York Times.

Hanauer, A. (2017). No Child Left Behind. (2017, January 31). UWIRE Text, p. 1

Heward, W. L., Alber-Morgan, S. R., & Konrad, M. (2017). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education (11th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Katsiyannis, A., Yell, M., & Bradley, R. (2001). Reflections on the 25th anniversary of the individuals with disabilities education act. Remedial and Special Education, 22, 324-334.

Learning Disabilities Association of America (2018). History. Retrieved from https://ldaamerica.org/about-us/history/

Martin, E., Martin, R., & Terman, D. (1996). The legislative and litigation history of special education. The Future of Children, 6, 25-39.

Mission & Values. (2018). The ARC for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.thearc.org/who-we-are/mission-and-values

Sailor, W. (2009). Making RTI work : How smart schools are reforming education through schoolwide response-to-intervention (1st ed.). San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.

U.S. Department of Education. (2010). Thirty-five Years of Progress in Educating Children With Disabilities Through IDEA. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35/history/idea-35-history.pdf

What is the Americans with Disabilities Act? (n.d.). ADA National Network. Retrieved from https://adata.org/learn-about-ada

Samuels, Christina A. (January 6, 2016). "Special Education Community Gears Up for Advocacy". Education Week. 35: 21 – via EBSCO Host.

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A more recent change in history, has been RTI, which gained traction in 2004.

An overarching idea of RTI is that students begin in general education, before they receive special education services

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Another change in education and special education is the UDL. The UDL helps to ensure that all students are being challenged in a way that is appropriate for them. Teachers need to understand how to implement the UDL, which is now the expected of teachers.

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This link goes into more details about the history of SPED
https://www.alleducationschools.com/blog/history-of-special-education/

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What can we learn from the history of special education?

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What can we learn from the history of special education?

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This is a great website that goes into more detail about creating a universal design for learning. This is the direction that our education system is heading, so teachers everywhere need to know how to make learning accessible and appropriate for everyone.
http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html#.W_86gpNKgdU

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This is a great overlook of RTI, and could help teachers unfamiliar with the process understand the requirements.
https://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/response-to-intervention/