-
The Children with Specific Disabilities Act
This act was approved in 1969 and then included in PL 91-230 (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). This proved to be the first vital step in assisting learning disabled children in publicly funded classrooms. For the first time support for these students is mandated in federal law.
Buliding up to Federal Law
PL 91-230 -
PL 94-142 Education for All Handicapped Children Act
Established support for states and local governments for education for those with disabilities. Helped create the "least resrtictive environment" methodology in which learning disabled students recieve more support while still being integrated with the rest of the student body.
Much more about PL 94-142 -
PL 101-476 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Renamed the original 1975 act and put a "people first" emphasis in law rather than "disability first". Great strides were made to reduce dicrimanatory wording from the law such as replacing "handicapped" with "with a disability" which focused on the fact that a persons disability is just a singular part of their life, not the entire thing.
IDEA 1990 "People First" -
PL 108-446 IDEA 2004
IDEA 2004 implements multiple year Individualized Educational Programs (IEP's) for students that include specific benchmarks and objectives. It also puts a definition on what a "highly-qualified special education teacher" is. It also (among many other things) changed program funding, discipline, and identification.
Puzzle Pieces Coming Together: IDEA 2004
