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The Evolution of Special Education: A Historic Timeline

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    The Evolution of Special Education

  • Asylums the norm for the Mentally Challenged

    Prior to the Revolutionary War, People with Disabilities Were Placed in Asylums And Given Only Protective Care. Education Did Not Exist. Post War, Procedures to Work with the Blind and Deaf Began and Were Precursors to Efforts to Work with the Mentally Challenged Who Were Previously Labeled Insane.
  • Introduction of "Moral Treatment" in France & England

    Introduction of "Moral Treatment" in France & England
    Beginning in the late 1700s, European hospitals introduced what they called "moral treatment." Doctors, particularly in France and England, discouraged physical restraints, such as shackles or straitjackets. They focused instead on emotional well-being, believing this approach would cure patients more effectively.
    https://www.disabilitymuseum.org/dhm/edu/essay.html?id=19
  • Benjamin Rush

    Benjamin Rush
    In the United States, the first proponent of moral treatment was Benjamin Rush. He was elected to the Chair of Institutes, Medical and Clinical Practice of the University of Pennsylvania in 1791 where he is known to have told his students: "Attend the poor, they are your best patients, God is their paymaster." http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc/features/brush.html
  • Massachusetts 1st to Mandate Public Education

    First initiated in Massachusetts to Serve as the Great Social Equalizer Providing Children with the Necessary Skills and Knowledge to Obtain Better Jobs and Upward Mobility.
  • Dorothea Dix

    Dorothea Dix
    During the Civil War, Dix was appointed "Superintendent of Army Nurses" for the Union army. Setting strict standards for the recruiting, training and assigning of female nurses to army hospitals, Dix enforced a policy of even-handed treatment of wounded soldiers from both armies. Following the war, Dix continued her crusade for fair and equal treatment of the mentally ill. https://www.nps.gov/people/dorothea-dix.htm
  • Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb

    Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb
    Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet becomes principal of the American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, the first residential school in the U.S.
  • Established the Concept of Hands On Object Centered Learning

    Pestalozzi, Rousseau, and Froebel: The European Influence
  • Period: to

    Demise of Concern for the Mentally ill

    Quite suddenly the retreat for cure was replaced by the holding facility for hereditary inferior people. The public residential institution grew in size and number from the 1880s until the 1970s. The dream of moral treatment died because of a combination of overcrowded hospitals along with the advent of eugenics and Freud around the turn of the twentieth century.
    https://www.disabilitymuseum.org/dhm/edu/essay.html?id=19
  • Physiological Method

    Physiological Method
    Edward Seguine: Non-Verbal Assessments as a Scientific Means for Sorting and Categorizing Individuals. These Procedures Were Conceptualized as the Beginning of "Special" or Different Approaches for Students in Schools.
  • Eugenics Movement

    Eugenics Movement
    The Eugenics Record Office (ERO) was founded in Cold Spring Harbor, New York in 1911 by the renowned biologist Charles B. Davenport, using money from both the Harriman railroad fortune and the Carnegie Institution.
  • Conceptual and Historical Foundations of Special Education Administration

    Conceptual and Historical Foundations of Special Education Administration
    More than 60 years ago, Martha Berry (1941) stressed that the problems inherent in special education administration are similar to those in educational administration. https://libguides.berry.edu/marthaberry
  • The Civil Right to an Equal Education Was Recognized

    The Civil Right to an Equal Education Was Recognized
  • Brown vs. Board of Education

    Brown vs. Board of Education
  • Public Law 85-926

    Public Law 85-926
    To encourage expansion of teaching in the education of mentally retarded children through grants to institutions of higher learning and to State educational agencies. Instrumental in Establishing The Federal Government Involvement Particularly with Respect to its Provision Supporting Leadership Preparatory Programs for Special Education.
  • 1st Book related to Special Education for Administrators

    1st Book related to Special Education for Administrators
    Book Dealt with Problems Inherent in Special Education by Leo Connor
  • Reynolds Continuum of Services Model

    Provided the Foundation of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). LRE refers to the extent special education services are provided to a student in a setting with the student's non-disabled peers and as close to the student's home as possible. The continuum of services identifies different service delivery models to provide specially designed instruction to a student with a disability.
  • 1960's Children with Disabilities brought into the education system

    1960's Children with Disabilities brought into the education system
    The President's Panel on “Mental Retardation”* proposed a program for "National Action to Combat Mental Retardation*
    http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/three/004.htm
  • President Kennedy and the De-Institutionalization Movement

    President Kennedy and the De-Institutionalization Movement
    President Kennedy Spoke to Congress and Began the De-Institutionalization Movement. https://www.ymadvocacy.org/the-community-mental-health-act-of-1963/
  • Public Law 88-164

    The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 (CMHA) was an act to provide federal funding for community mental health centers and research facilities in the United States. This legislation was passed as part of John F. Kennedy's New Frontier.[1] It led to considerable de-institutionalization.
  • Post Graduate Training Programs in Special Education Administration Founded

    Post Graduate Training Programs in Special Education Administration Founded
    Federal Push to Fund Formal Training of Special Education Administrators in Four Universities
  • Title IV to the Elementary & Secondary Education Act: The Beginning of Special Education

    Title IV to the Elementary & Secondary Education Act: The Beginning of Special Education
    Lyndon B. Johnson Created a Bureau of Education for the Handicapped and Created the Office for Special Education Programming
  • Federally Subsidized Healthcare

    Federally Subsidized Healthcare
    Medicare/Medicade: Established to Provide Federally Subsidized Health Care
  • Special Education Administrators Training Requirements established

    In 1966 Research Lead by Connor Identified the Skills Necessary to Lead Specialized Special Education Programs Which Were Essentially Limited to Undergraduate or Graduate Preparation as a Special Educator Plus Two Years of Experience.
  • P.L. 89-75: INCLUSION

    P.L. 89-75: INCLUSION
    Grants for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Public Schools. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sO1YqrEoXg
  • ESEA Amendments P.L. 90-247

    ESEA Amendments P.L. 90-247
    Authorized Support of Regional Centers for Education of Handicapped Children
  • Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA)

    Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA)
    Samuel Kirk Develops the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) Which Served as the Basis for the Exceptionality of Learning Disability. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsUTsWaFn_k
  • FAPE in LRE

    FAPE in LRE
    In 1970, only one in five students with disabilities was educated in American schools. By 1975, the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped was also saying that an estimated one million children with severe disabilities were still totally excluded from the education system, and at least another 300,000 were not receiving adequate services. http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/three/017.htm
  • Emerging Theories to Join Special & Regular Education Leadership

    Meisgeir & King: Emerging Theorteical, Political, and Practical Complexities of Special Education Administration
  • PARC vs. Commonwealth of PA

    PARC vs. Commonwealth of PA
    Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was a legal case in 1971 where the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was sued by the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC), now The Arc of Pennsylvania, over a law that gave public schools the authority to deny a free education to children who had reached the age of 8, yet had not reached the mental age of 5
  • Federally Funded University Special Education Administration Preparation Programs Expand

    Federally Funded University Special Education Administration Certification Programs Reach 20 Programs.
  • Mills v. Board of Education

    Mills v. Board of Education
    Argues That Everyone is Entitled to Free and Appropriate Public Education
  • Willowbrook State School: Last Great Disgrace

    NY School Exposed for Inhumane Conditions. Please Review the Following Link and Watch the Videos Contained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPBhuaxpL90
  • Section 504

    Section 504
    Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is Passed and Increases Administrative Responsibility
    https://www.parentcenterhub.org/section504/
  • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is Passed and Increases Administrative Responsibility

    The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is Passed and Increases Administrative Responsibility
    FERPA is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
    FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level.
    http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
  • Special Education Administration Expertise Lags

    Only 6/50 States Had Certification Requirements for Administration in Special Education
  • Public Law 94-142

    Public Law 94-142
    The Passage of Public Law 94-142 Changed the Direction of Special Education Administration Leadership Practices to Include New Responsibilities for Implementing the New Federal Law Including LRE and FAPE Provisions. The Professional Literature Suggested Special Education Administration Preparation Was a Frequent Topic. Qualities, Attitudes, and Competencies Were Heightened in This Decade Along with State Certification Requirements.
  • P.L. 94-142

    P.L. 94-142
    Enacted by Congress, this act required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day for children with physical and mental disabilities. Public schools were required to evaluate handicapped children and create an educational plan with parent input that would emulate as closely as possible the educational experience of non-disabled students.
  • Training Textbooks into Print

    Training Textbooks into Print
    Burrello & Sage: Special Education Administrators Preparation Textbook Nevin & Raske: General Education Administrators Preparation Textbook Focusing on Special Education Responsibilities of the General Educator These Important Works Established Special and Regular Education as Complimentary Disciplines Strengthening the Rationale for Collaboration and Integration of Special and General Education Leadership Programs.
  • LRE slow progress despite public law 94-142 and called for reform

    LRE slow progress despite public law 94-142 and called for reform
    The promise of the "least restrictive environment" was great. Progress, however, was not. The system was not adjusting to the new requirements. The placement of students in less and more restrictive environments changed little. The United States General Accounting Office challenged the system to make substantive changes if the requirements of P. L. 94-142 were to be met within a decade of its passing. http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/three/036.htm
  • The 1990s: More, But Slow, Progress. From Integration to Inclusion. From Placement to Outcome.

    In 1970, only 1/5 students with disabilities was educated in American schools. In 1993, fewer than 7% of school-aged children with developmental disabilities were educated in general education classrooms. The struggle had shifted over the years from getting children with disabilities into public schools to supporting them to learn in the classrooms of neighborhood schools. In 1997, IDEA was amended.
    http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/three/044.htm
  • P.L. 101-476

    P.L. 101-476
    Handicapped Children Act Renamed American's with Disabilities Act
  • IDEA

    IDEA
    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 requires every state to have in effect policies and procedures to ensure a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all students with disabilities.
  • Turn of the century: Frustration Mounts. Justice Delayed.

    Turn of the century: Frustration Mounts. Justice Delayed.
    Congress reviewed IDEA 1997 and passed IDEA 2004 with a new set of regulations. It said that progress "has been impeded by low expectations and an insufficient focus on applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching and learning for children with disabilities."
    http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/three/057.htm
  • No Child Left Behind Left

    No Child Left Behind Left
    The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2001 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, is the name for the most recent update to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It Mandated: Annual Yearly Progress and Highly Qualified Teachers.
  • IDEA 2004 Revision

    IDEA 2004 Revision
    Increase Accountability
  • Obama's Blueprint

    Obama here releases his admin's blueprint to revisie the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
  • Emerging Role in Special Education Leadership/CEC and ISLLC Standards

    Emerging Role in Special Education Leadership/CEC and ISLLC Standards
    Special education leadership consists of the of special education faculty at institutes of higher education, district special education administration, the site principal, and the special education teacher. Emerging roles include transformational leadership, culture, climate and ethos. Follow this link to establish the link between four areas of Special Education Leadership:
    http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_1_No_15_Special_Issue_October_2011/15.pdf
  • P.L. 105-332 The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act

    P.L. 105-332 The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act
    The Perkins Act defines vocational-technical education as organized educational programs offering sequences of courses directly related to preparing individuals for paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging occupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree.
  • Code of Ethics for Special Education

    Code of Ethics for Special Education
    Special Education professionals should remain committed to a code of ethics. Ethical principles include the following components: respect of diversity, promoting inclusive environments, using research-based practices to make informed decisions, promoting the physical and psychological safety of students, advocating for professional conditions and resources for improved conditions, etc.
  • Council of Administrators of Special Education

    Council of Administrators of Special Education
    International professional organization (affiliated with the CEC) that provides its members with support and leadership. Standards include serving exceptional children and their parents, demonstrate proficiency in professional practice, uphold values and ethical knowledge of the profession, support research of scholarly inquiry.
  • Continuing Leadership Challenges

    Challenges to the Further Development of Special Education Administrators Continue to Emerge with the Complexities of Administrator Responsibility for the Balance Between Legal Compliance and Instructional Issues, Including: Limited Resources, Accurate Evaluation Techniques, Informed Objective Decision Making, Utilizing Data, and Assessing Leadership Practices Across Traditional and Alternative Pathways.
  • Preparing Special Education Administrators as Leaders

    Preparing Special Education Administrators as Leaders
    Practicums offer hands-on experiences in which the student will apply theory and law, develop leadership skills, analyze issues in the realm of special education, and apply theories of human relations, administrative, and leadership. Through communication, collaboration, and feedback, students will actively be engaged in the decision-making process as they apply practical knowledge about policies, evaluation and assessment practices, and supervision.
  • Special Education Standards for Professional Practice

  • Preparation for education administrators

    Coursework includes curriculum, assessment, and instructional methods, special education law, and others that focus on the exceptional student in inclusionary settings.
  • Preparing Leaders through Professional Development Opportunities

    Preparing Leaders through Professional Development Opportunities
    Seek professional development opportunities! For example, the Eastern Special Education Administrators' Conference was recently held in October 2016. Keynote presentations included supporting transgender students, evidence-based accommodations and supports for students with anxiety, and updates to special education law.
  • The Future Scenario 2

    The Future Scenario 2
    There will be an increase in the need for special education administration due to the complexities in implementing interventions for both high-incidence and low-incidence special education students. General education administration will rely on the expertise of special education administrators to implement interventions and supports for students with special needs.
  • The Future Scenario 4

    The Future Scenario 4
    Special education training will be increased for both special education and general education administrators and teachers. This scenario is propelled by the need for schools to meet the needs of all learners, which comes in the form of both differentiated instruction for students who do not have individualized education plans and students who are actually identified as having either invisible or visible disabilities.
  • The Future Scenario 1

    The Future Scenario 1
    Special education administration will remain as a prominent need but it will change from overseeing the entirety of special education to overseeing the inclusion of students with low incidence disabilities in the general education classroom. Students with more visible and severe disabilities will receive greater support as an attempt is made to integrate them into the general education population. This scenario will be propelled by a strengthening of the inclusion model.
  • The Future Scenario 3

    The Future Scenario 3
    Special education administration will remain as a prominent need but it will change from overseeing the entirety of special education to overseeing the inclusion of students with low incidence disabilities in the general education classroom. Students with more visible and severe disabilities will receive greater support as an attempt is made to integrate them into the general education population. This scenario will be propelled by a strengthening of the inclusion model.