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Compulsory Education Law
Massachusetts was the first state to pass a compulsory education law. Education is the responsibility of the individual states. -
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Mass. Supreme Judicial Court ruled that children that could not benefit from the regular education classroom or unable to take care of themselves were able to be expelled from school. -
White House Conference of 1910
The first White House Conference focused on national attention on children with disabilities. This increased interest in educating children with disabilities in public settings rather than institutionalizing them. -
New Jersey to educate students
New Jersey adopted laws requiring public schools to educate students with disabilities. The one draw back to this was that the follow through wasn't effective. -
Compulsory Education Law
Even though students were still excluded from public schools, compulsory education laws were in place in all states at this point. -
Wisconsin Supreme Court
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that school officials could exclude students with disabilities even though the student had attended public school until fifth grade. (Beattie vs. Board of Education) -
Massachusetts to educate students with disabilities
Massachusetts was the third state to require public schools in educating students with disabilities. -
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
CEC was founded by faculty and students at Columbia University in New York, NY. It was established to advocate for the educational rights of children with disabilities at federal and state levels. -
Cuyahoga County Council for the Retarded Child
This organization was made up of 5 mothers of children with mental retardation that chose to protest their children being excluded from public education. This resulted in providing a special class for their children. -
Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals in Ohio
The court stated that students have a right to attend school and taking into account the importance of education as evidence for compulsory education statue. They did acknowledge the conflict between compulsory education and the exclusionary provisions, but did not choose to resolve this. -
National Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC)
In September of 1950, forty two parents met to establish a significant organization with an interest in improving services with mental retardation. -
Brown Vs. Board of Education
Court case that was a victory for civli rights movement and became the major case for further civil rights action. This court case created many changes within the school policies and approaches to students with disabilities. -
ESEA
This act provided federal funding to assist states in education students as part of the war on poverty. -
EHCA
This act provided grants to institutions of higher education to train their teachers in special education practices. -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) vs. Pennsylvania
Students with mental retardation were not receiving public support education due to the state delaying or ignoring the fact that they were to public support education for these students. It was resolved that all children with mental retardation between the ages of 6 and 21 must be provided with a free public education using a program similar to the students without disabilities. -
Mills Vs. Board of Education of the District of Columbia
Parents representing students who were excluded with disabilities presented that they were being excluded without due process. This helped up in court because segregation based on race was unconstitutional. This brought along procedural safeguards which is the written notice of all stages of the process of an IEP. This also brought about the due process component of the EAHCA. -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
This act prohibited discrimination against qualified persons with disabilities in programs that receive federal funding. -
The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH)
TASH was made up of teachers, administrators, and parents. It disseminates information regarding best practices, publishing research reports, and supports the rights of humane treatment of persons with severe and multiple disabilities through court cases. -
Education Amendments
Amendments were made to incorporate the rights from PARC and Mills into the law. -
Education for Handicapped Children Act (EHCA)
This act was created to provide federal funding to states that agree to educate students with disabilities and establish rights of eligible students to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. This also required schools to develop an IEP and procedural safeguards. -
The Handicapped Children's Protection Act
This act allowed parents to recover attorney's fees if they win in a due process hearing or court case. This act also extended EHCA'a program for 3 to 5 year olds in specific states. -
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
This was created to increase the achievement of students in America's public schools. It required states to establish rigorous systems that hold school districts and schools accountable for improving student achievement that is measurable. Every student is to be brought up to state standards in math and reading within a certain period of time. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
IDEA renamed EHCA and also included traumatic brain injury and autism as new disability categories. This act also added a transition requirement to the IEP for students 16 or older. -
IDEA Amendments
Amendments were made to add new IEP contents and change the IEP team. It also required states to offer mediation to parents before heading to due process hearings. -
IDEA Improvement Act
The improvement act identified a highly qualified special education teacher, removed the short term objectives from IEP's except from those students with sever disabilities, encouraged an RTI model to determine if students really were learning disabled, and prohibited states from using a discrepancy formula when determining eligibility for students with learning disabilities.