The History of Special Education in the United States

  • The Inauguration of President Kennedy

    I choose this event because John F. Kennedy just so happens to be my favorite President, so what better day to pick than his inauguration!
  • Abbey Road Released

    On September 26, 1969, the Beatles (my favorite band), released their iconic album "Abbey Road."
  • The Educational Amendments Act of 1972

    This Act granted the rights of due process to special education cases and to parents and students. Furthermore, this Act provided badly needed funding for talented and gifted students.
  • The Vocational Rehabilitation Act and Section 504

    The Vocational Rehabilitation Act prohibited the Federal Government from discriminating via funding against persons with disabilities.
  • The Education For All Handicapped Children Act

    Signed by President Ford, this legislation forced states to provide equal education to disabled students; if they were given money by the Federal Government. School-systems were also required to provide free meals once a day to students.
  • B.O.E of Hendrick Hudson Central School District, V. Rowley (Argued March 23, 1982, decided June 28, 1982)

    In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court decided that individual school administrators had the authority to decide what special educational needs a disabled student may, or may not require. Essentially, the Court mandated that schools most provide "sufficient education" to students with disabilities; not necessarily the best education.
  • The Handicapped Children's Act

    In this landmark piece of legislation, the parents or guardians of disabled students were granted a much larger role in both the planning and implementation of their child's Individual Education Plan, or (IEP).
  • Honig V. Doe (Argued November 9, 1987, decided January 20, 1988)

    Essentially, the ruling on this case made it impossible for schools to indefinitely suspend (expel) a disabled student based off of the actions and-or behaviors directly resulting from their disability. For Example, resulting from this ruling, a school could not take disciplinary action against a student with Tourette's syndrome, who happens to yell something in the middle of class, as this is the result of their disability.
  • The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

    This landmark piece of legislation allowed students in under-performing schools to transfer to higher-performing schools, regardless of zoning, placed higher standards and expectations on teachers, and introduced many new academic programs, among other measures.
  • The Every Student Succeeds Act-ESSA (2015)

    This Act aimed to reduce the amount of standardized testing in the United States, by transferring a large degree of educational control and power to the individual states from the Federal Government. Importantly, this Act also implemented various anti-bullying programs.
  • Dog adoption

    Apart from my team winning the championship, 2016 was a big year for me in another way, in that I got my dog, Bear.
  • Champions!

    The Cleveland Cavaliers, my favorite basketball team, won the 2016 NBA Championship against the Golden State Warriors.
  • Accepted!

    On April 15, 2020, I received my letter of acceptance from NC State.

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