Special Education Timeline

By emilyh17

  • Brown vs Board of Education

    Classic school desegregation case

  • Public Law 88:164

    Authorized federal funds to support training of professionals to work with students with disabilities and research on practices to be used with those children.

  • Pennslyvania Association for Retarded Chidlren (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    Determined that children with an IDD could not be excluded from school and did have a right to FAPE and that when the Pennsylvania state constitution said all children are entitled to a free public education, it really did mean all children including those with disabilities.

  • Public Law 93:112: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

    Law acts as a bridge between general and special education and may be a first step to the response for intervention model, brought into play when the rights of an individual with disabilities have been denied or interfered with. Act states that it is illegal to deny participation in activities or programs solely because of a disability.

  • Public Law 94:142: Education for all Handicapped Children Act

    Designed to assure that all handicapped children have access to a free appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and other related services needed to meet their unique needs.

  • Public Law 99:457: Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986

    Allocated federal funds for states to develop plans and programs for children and their families from birth on (Similar to PL.94:142, but aims to also include younger children).

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

    Official name for Public Law 99:457.

  • Public Law 100:297: The Javits Act

    Provided a small sum of money to support research and demonstration programs that focused specifically on the special needs of gifted students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

  • Public Law 101:336: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992

    Extended Civil Rights to persons with disabilities. These rights are guaranteed without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, or religion.

  • Public Law 107:110: No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

    Major education legislation in the George W Bush administration whose purpose was to hold schools and educators responsible for bringing students to a minimum level of competency. The law requires schools to present test data to prove they are complying with the law, which can be problematic for some students with disabilities who have a difficult time gaining a year academically for every year spent in school. This can also cause undue stress for teachers who must deal with the consequences.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA [Sometimes still referred to as IDEA])

    The re-authorization of the original legislation Education for all Handicapped Children Act, PL.94:142), designed to strengthen and improve earlier versions by placing emphasis on quality of personnel, IEP Standards, and transition planning.

  • American Recovery Act of 2009

    Goal was to stimulate economic activity in a wide variety of areas in the United States which resulted in large funds being provided to the states under IDEA on a one time basis to improve the delivery of quality of early intervention services.