Roots of Special Education by Anna O'Toole

Who had access to free education before 1975?

annamotoole — 2024-06-05 00:08:18 UTC

Before 1975, despite free public education becoming normalized in all states, many groups were barred from benefitting. These groups included African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and children with disabilities. Children with disabilities stayed at home or were placed into institutions. Students that were placed into institutions received no education. Many people held the belief that they were unable to learn.

Most schools were allowed to deny access to students with disabilities. Schools could do this because of the lack of policies protecting many groups of people.

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What does EHA stand for?

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annamotoole — 2024-06-17 22:12:03 UTC

"The U.S. has progressed from excluding nearly 1.8 million children with disabilities from public schools prior to EHA implementation to providing more than 8 million children with disabilities with special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs in the 2022-23 school year." (A history of the individuals with disabilities education act, 2024).

annamotoole — 2024-06-17 22:13:54 UTC

Many families that had children with disabilities pushed the government to enact laws that gave their children access to education.

annamotoole — 2024-06-17 22:16:39 UTC

Another crucial law that went into effect was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This Act helped states obtain the funds to help educate students with disabilities. This is still going on today; schools receive funding for the number of students receiving additional support for their disability.

annamotoole — 2024-06-18 00:38:24 UTC

Many laws were imperative to the lead-up to the EHA. One that stuck out to me was the Training of Professional Personnel Act of 1959, which helped professionals train to work with students with intellectual disabilities. I found it very interesting that one of the first acts involved teachers. Having personnel that could help students with disabilities was important. If teachers had no training in working with disabilities, these students would not be receiving an appropriate education, which is defined much later.

annamotoole — 2024-06-18 00:42:27 UTC

This article explains what led up to the EHA. Many children, not just exceptional learners, could not receive public education. The article also explains that our education system is decentralized, meaning the states have majority control over standards. Having a decentralized system can be challenging, as we want to ensure we uphold high standards for all students across all states! The education system in America continues to struggle with having a decentralized system. It can be difficult to ensure all students receive adequate education when the standards vary from state to state.

annamotoole — 2024-06-18 00:45:40 UTC

The Education for all Handicapped Children Act changed everything for exceptional learners in 1975. What was education like for families and exceptional learners before this?

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annamotoole — 2024-06-18 01:13:51 UTC

The above link is an article about a landmark case that helped other states move towards inclusivity. PARC (the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children ) vs. Pennsylvania was the first lawsuit in the country of its kind. This lawsuit aimed to give students with intellectual disabilities the right to public education. Pennsylvania made a quick decision to provide access to the students paving the way our country as a whole

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Education for all Handicapped Children Act

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This article discusses how people with disabilities have been treated throughout history and in the United States. After the Civil Rights Movement, ". . . More community integration came to be afforded to people with disabilities, with settings that promote independent living. Appropriate education was advocated by U.S. presidents such as Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush."

Civil Rights Movement

annamotoole — 2024-06-19 02:31:27 UTC

A common thread I found while reading is the importance of the Civil Rights Movement to exceptional learners gaining rights to a free and appropriate education. The Civil Rights Movement not only helped people of color have equal opportunities in education but also helped all marginalized people.

FAPE

annamotoole — 2024-06-19 02:31:49 UTC

A Free and Appropriate Public Education.

This was determined during the EHA Act of 1975.

It addressed the need for education to be free and appropriate.

Appropriate means that it must meet the needs of the learner. This definition ensures that students are not neglected in the education system; rather, we meet the learners where they are.

annamotoole — 2024-06-19 02:31:59 UTC

According to this article, this ". . . law was passed to meet four huge goals:

To ensure that special education services are available to children who need them
To guarantee that decisions about services to students with disabilities are fair and appropriate
To establish specific management and auditing requirements for special education
To provide federal funds to help the states educate students with disabilities"

LRE

annamotoole — 2024-06-19 02:38:57 UTC

Least Restrictive Environment

Students should be placed in the least restrictive environment. That means that exceptional learners should be placed in the general education environment with their non-disabled peers.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

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EHA's name was changed in 1990. It also updated many key features of the law to address current problems. One of the key problems teachers faced was helping older students with disabilities. In 1990, having a transition plan became part of an IEP at age sixteen. This was to help students leaving school prepare for life. Including this in the law was important. It should be our primary goal as educators to ensure our students succeed outside of school.

1990

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The article above states that, "It took many decades and the force of civil rights legislation and court decisions before universal access to public education matured into the full pursuit of equal educational opportunity for all racial, ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups, as well as for girls and children with disabilities."

annamotoole — 2024-06-20 21:40:39 UTC

This YouTube video gives an overview of all the laws and landmark cases that eventually led up to the EHA. I found it extremely helpful as it is presented in the sequence in which they happened.

Reauthorizations

annamotoole — 2024-06-20 21:58:14 UTC

1986

Since the EHA was the first of it's kind in our country, there was pruning that needed to happen in the following years. For example, in 1986 we had to address the need for early intervention.

1997

annamotoole — 2024-06-20 22:04:34 UTC

The first amendment to IDEA focused on making general educators part of the IEP team.

General educators are one of the most significant contributors to an IEP as they spend countless hours with their students. They have great insight into the student's academic abilities.

2004

annamotoole — 2024-06-20 22:04:38 UTC

RTI

Response to Intervention

A multiple-tiered system that helps teachers track and use student data. Schools are required to use RTI for targeted support. This targeted support is either to help push students or identify struggling students that may need more supports.

IEP

annamotoole — 2024-06-20 22:04:56 UTC

Individual Education Plan

Designed to meet the needs of exceptional learners. Education is not appropriate if it does not meet a student's needs. An IEP ensures students have goals and meet those goals!

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George Washington University, C. on E. P. (CEP), Kober, N., & Rentner, D. S. (2020). History and Evolution of Public Education in the US. In Center on Education Policy.

GovTrack.us. (n.d.). S. 6 — 94th Congress: Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/s6/summary

Murphy, J. W. (n.d.). Introduction to the study of law (Chapter 1). SAGE Publications. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/40754_mur_ch1.pdf

Public Interest Law Center. (n.d.). Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Public Interest Law Center. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://pubintlaw.org/cases-and-projects/pennsylvania-association-for-retarded-citizens-parc-v-commonwealth-of-pennsylvania/

Teachings in Education. (2016, October 10). Special education law [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj2dBLi7zvQ

Teachings in Education. (2022, August 29). Education for All Handicapped Children Act PL 94 142 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4Xzvafi-Pg

U.S. Department of Education. (2024, February 16). A history of the individuals with disabilities education act. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History