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Compulsory Attendance- Exclusion of Students with Disabilities
Massachusetts was the first state to pass a compulsory education law in 1852; Vermont passed the second in 1867, with other states following suit. By 1918 compulsory education laws were in place in all states. Despite the enactment of compulsory education laws, however, children with disabilities were often excluded from public schools. (Yell, 2016) -
Supreme Court Case: Watson v. City of Cambridge 1893
in 1893 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a child who was “weak in mind” and could not benefit from instruction, was troublesome to other children, made “unusual noises,” and was unable to take “ordinary, decent, physical care of himself ” could be expelled from public school (Watson v. City of Cambridge, 1893). (Yell, 2016) -
The White House Conference of 1910
The objective of this goal was to create and define remedial instructions for children with disabilities. These programs will soon gain interest in Public Schools.
This introduced segregation in public schools. -
Public School Programming 1910-1930
Support and segregated classes in Public School grew significantly from 1910-1930. With support for students with disabilities in the segregated classroom, many states did not follow other states with these programs so many students with disabilities struggled in a general education classroom. Many students did not benefit from this support because they were either expelled or they dropped out. This led to a decrease in programming. -
The Council for Exceptional Students
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is a professional organization concerned with the education of children with special needs. Founded in 1922 by Teachers from Teachers College in Columbia University NY. (Yell, 2016) -
The Organization of Advocacy Groups
Due to poor programming for students with disabilities. They were even placed in harsher and extreme restrictive settings. Parents began to unite and form advocacy groups. The first advocacy group was formed in Cayuga County in 1933. Groups began to form nationwide. -
Federal Involvement
The first significant federal involvement in the education of students with disabilities occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s. -
Brown v. The Board of Education
Landmark Civil rights case that was ruled that Segregation in schools is unlawful. No school is separate and equal. This impacted the students with disabilities community. Advocates for students with disabilities, citing Brown, claimed that students with disabilities had the same rights as students without disabilities. -
SECTION 504 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973
The Act states No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States . . . shall solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any activity receiving federal financial assistance. Yell, 2016) -
THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT OF 1990
Law provided people first. The term handicap was replaced with disability. Two categories were added. Autism and Traumatic brain injury. was later amended in 1997 -
ADA- American Disabilities Act 1990
This prohibits discrimination of any person with a disability with employment, schools, and transportation. was later amended in 2008. -
THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
President Bush passed this law in which each state and school district was responsible for providing rigorous instructions for all students. This was in response to low scores of students (Yell,2016) -
THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2004
The changes in IDEA 2004 are significant. Among the most important of these are changes in the IEPs, discipline, and identification of students with learning disabilities. Additionally, IDEA 2004 requires that all special education teachers must be certified in special education and meet the highly qualified teacher requirements of NCLB. (Yell, 2016)