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Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
ESEA instituted protection and ensured that students from disadvantaged backgrounds would be provided for in the educational system. A fundamental piece of this legislation, related to protecting students with disabilities, is that it created a grant program that encouraged states to create and improve programs for students with disabilities. This made the cut because it provided protections not previously available for all students, including those with exceptionalities -
Vocational Rehabilitation Act (VRA)
This law is significant in the history of special education legislation because it defines what an appropriate education is, defines handicapped person, and prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities in federally funded programs. After this law was passed, students with disabilities could no longer legally be turned away from enrollment in a school, or be turned down in regards to receiving special education and services to accommodate their needs in an educational setting. -
Educational Amendments Act
This law is significant to the history of legislation in regards to special education because it granted students and families the right of due process in special education placement. This means that, by law, students with disabilities would be given fair treatment through the educational system, and their legal rights would be respected. Parents would be able to oversee what decisions were made about their child(ren) in regards to receiving special education. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)
I believe that this law is significant to the history of special education legislation because, when enacted, it required states to provide a free and appropriate education for children with disabilities, required individualized education programs, and was the first law to define least restrictive environment. This law forced the educational system to provide an equal, inclusive environment for students with exceptionalities. Through IEPs, this law ensured individualization in their education. -
Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments
This law improved the previous legislation added to Special Education and is significantly different and important because not only did it extend the amount of services provided to children with disabilities, but it also established early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities. This meant that younger children with disabilities could receive services and educational programs that would begin and progress their education prior to entering the school system. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This law is extremely significant in making progress towards equality for those with special needs, and is important to special education legislation because it was the first law to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector. It enforced equal opportunity to employment and public services, accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. It also defined disability to include people with AIDS. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
This law, perhaps one of the most significant of laws added to Special Education legislation, improved upon and renamed EAHCA. This law established people-first language for referring to people with disabilities, extended special education services, extended provisions for due process and confidentiality, added new categories of disabilities, provided bilingual education, and required individual transitional programs for work-ready students by the time they reached the age of 16. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
While this wasn't new legislation, there were significant improvements made to IDEA in 1997 that changed special education dramatically. The new articles required schools to assume more responsibility for educating students with disabilities, allowed access of a special education teacher into general classrooms, required that general educators be part of IEP teams, required states to offer mediation, required a proactive behavior management plan, and limited fees collected by lawyers under IDEA. -
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
This law is significant to special education legislation because it ensured more inclusivity for students with special needs. It increased school, district, and state accountability for all students, provided more flexibility in how states use federal funds as long as standards of accountability are met, offered school choice for students that were enrolled in failing schools, and implemented early reading interventions so that students that had trouble reading would receive extra assistance. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA)
This law, renaming and updating IDEA, has significantly contributed to the way in which special education programs are designed today. These articles created the response-to-intervention model, increased federal funds to provide early intervention services to students, eliminated short-term objectives in IEPs, raised standards for special education licensure, and adopted policies designed to prevent the disproportionate representation of students in special education by race and ethnicity.
