History of Special Education free essay sample

However, the differences among most students are reasonably minute and it allows for those children to be taught in a general education program. On the other hand, exceptional students differ from the norm and require special individualized attention called special education. Special education pertains to the teaching of students with unique requirements in a way that tackles each student’s individual needs and differences. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Special Education or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although, special education is necessity for disabled children, there have been huge obstacles in the history of special education.For nearly 200 years following the United States being established in 1776, nothing was done to precede the privileges of its exceptional students. Actually, more than 4. 5 million students were deprived of a sufficient education. Overall, children with disabilities were denied the right to attend public schools. The children that had mild to moderate disabilities were more likely to dropping out because there was no special individualized teaching that would meet the disabled student’s needs and differences.Therefore, that left parents with disabled children only had two options: to keep their children at home with them or to have them institutionalized. These children were described as incorrigible, backward, steamer children, and truant. By the 1920s some cities, not many, created special classed for students deemed unsuitable for regular classes with â€Å"normal† students. The history of special education really blasted off after World War II when many parent advocacy groups formed to help pave the right for disabled children to receive a quality education.The first group to surface was the American Association on Mental Deficiency; their first convention was held in 1947. Next, many other advocacy groups were formed after the Civil Rights Movement and the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling which unmitigated equal defense under the law to minorities, lined the approach for related gains for those with disabilities. Several of the parent associations that were created due to civil rights movement were the Muscular Dystrophy Association, John F. Kennedy’s Panel on Mental Retardation and the United Cerebral Palsy Association.In 1965, congress created a Bureau of Education for the Handicapped that is currently identified as the Office of Special Education Programs. It is obvious that change takes time however, creating this bureau meant that a change was about to place. The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped main focus in 1965 was to get schooling for children with disabilities mandated by federal and state law. In 1972, two Supreme Court decisions were made whish finalized the right for children with disabilities to have equal rights to a quality education as their nondisabled peers.The two important Supreme Court cases were PARC vs. Pennsylvania and Mills vs. DC Department of Education. During this time, there were no existing federal law that mandates this position; some students began going to school as a result to this judge ruling. In 1973, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 was passed into statute. This nationwide law confined qualified students from discrimination based upon their disability. This law was passed with minute elaboration. The majority of teachers and principals were not alerted that this also pertained to public schools.This law should have included some specifications and better clarification so that special education blasted off quicker. In 1974, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) were passed. This law allowed all parents to have access to personal identifiable information sustained or composed used by a school district regarding their child. Overall, schools must have written authorization from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a students education record. In 1975, the Education for all Handicapped Children Act (EACHA) is passed.Currently this law is called Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This law mandated all schools provide education to students commonly within the ages of 3 and 21 with disabilities. States and school districts locate, recognize, and assess all students with disabilities not considering the severity of their disability. Every student receiving services have an unique education program which dictates the detailed special education and associated services to be provided to tackle his or her needs.Also, to the maximum extent appropriate children with disabilities must be educated with children who are not disabled. The target of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was to facilitate federal funds to maintain state and local efforts to teach children with disabilities and to reduce financial damages triggered by more special education responsibilities. It was not the goals of Congress to cover all the expenses of a free, apposite public schooling for students with disabilities.In 1977, the final federal regulations of Education for All Handicapped Children Act or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are released and require school districts to adhere to a set of regulations when providing education to children with disabilities. The new rules were to supply a collection of regulations in which school districts are required to abide by when issuing an education to students with disabilities. In 1990, the Education for all Handicapped Children Act was changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This amendment allowed for several alterations to the previous law. An important change was the additional transition services for students with disabilities. At this point, school districts were mandated to view results and supporting children with disabilities in switching from high school to postsecondary life. Although the history of special education has come a long way, there are still many challenges with special education. Some of the current issues are feelings of isolation, lack of administrative support, too little time with students, and a teacher shortage.Recruiting talented teachers is imperative in order to provide a high quality programs necessary for students with disabilities. The design of special education in many schools leads to increased isolation. Teachers become isolated from the teams and collaborative structured models of education in the 21st century when they go in their classroom and shut their doors. Teachers of students with disabilities must also have the ability to connect to resources and supports like technology.Also, more teachers are needed in the special education classroom so that the students receive the utmost quality education. A future challenge with special education would be bridging the gap between children with disabilities and technology. Everyday this world becoming more technology savvy and it is becoming essential for everyone to be able to operate and use computers, as well as, other technology. Many schools are not teaching the exceptional students how to use computers and using computers have become essential in order to survive in today’s world.Yes, I understand that there may be more important things to teach children with disabilities. However, they should at least be introduced technology to an extent. All in all, the history of special education has advanced severely in the last century. Special education still has a lot of challenges but, it is great to look back to where special education has come from. There have been many acts like, IDEA that have contributed to the advancement of special education and allowed for a better education for disabled children.