Certification Study Group - Professional ML Engineer Session 3 (Machine Learn...
Flynn research presentation
1. The Treatment of Students with Disabilities
Before the IEP:
A History of Special Education Policy and Reform in U.S.
Public Education up to Public Law 94-142
Presented By: Nick Flynn
EDF 525
2. Context
Individuals with physical and mental disabilities have been the target of
discrimination across cultures for thousands of years
“Government treatment of persons with disabilities, beginning with their placement in
institutions and moving slowly into the educational system and the workplace, is a
relatively recent pattern” (Martin et al, 1996).
Before Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) was passed
in 1975, there was a growing concern about how to appropriately educate the
country’s population of disabled students
In 1970, U.S. schools only educated 1 in 5 students with disabilities
Many were excluded from schools
Many lived in state institutions for persons with mental retardation or mental illness
State institutions were homes to almost 200,000 people with significant disabilities in 1967
Provided minimal food, clothing, and shelter
Students received care for basic needs rather than education
3. Early History
1817 - The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opens. It is the first
permanent school for the deaf in the U.S.
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc are the school's co-founders.
In 1864, Thomas Gallaudet's son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, helps to start Gallaudet University, the first college
specifically for deaf students.
1829 - The New England Asylum for the Blind, now the Perkins School for the Blind, opens in Massachusetts,
becoming the first school in the U.S. for children with visual disabilities.
1853 - Pennsylvania begins funding the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, a private
school for children with intellectual disabilities.
1876 - Edouard Seguin becomes the first President of the Association of Medical Officers of American
Institutions for Idiotic and Feebleminded Persons, which evolves into the American Association on Intellectual
and Developmental Disabilities.
1907 - Eugenic Sterilization Law
Indiana becomes the first state to enact a eugenic sterilization law—for “confirmed idiots, imbeciles and
rapists”—in state institutions. The law spreads like wildfire and is enacted in 24 other states
1922 - The International Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is founded at Columbia University Teachers
College.
4. A Lack of Cohesion
Public perception of people with disabilities shifted after the World War II.
Thousands of young men returned home deaf, blind or in wheelchairs.
During the 1920s and 30s, Congress passed a series of laws creating provisions for
integrating war veterans back into the workplace.
In the 1930’s, disabilities were just beginning to become recognized
Children who were disabled were often instituted, ignored, or neglected. Language for
the time described these children as “mentally retarded”, “daft”, or “stupid”.
All disabilities during this time period fell into the category of “mental retardation”
Americans with disabilities lacked the group identity and cohesiveness needed to
bring about widespread change — until the 1960s.
Inspired by the success of the African-American civil rights movement, people with
disabilities began to campaign for legal protection against discrimination. Slowly,
through lobbying, protests and sheer persistence, Americans with disabilities challenged
the power structures that preserved inequality in U.S. public schools
5. Initial Federal Response
In the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government began to develop and validate
practices for children with disabilities and their families
Began with the National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA), which provided grants
to improve science and math teaching in the earlier grades.
Opened the door for federal involvement in elementary and secondary education.
Strongly supported by family associations such as The Arc
Laid the foundations for implementing effective programs and services in early
interventions and special education in states and localities across the country
By 1968, the federal government had supported:
Training for more than 30,000 special education teachers and related specialists
Captioned films viewed by more than 3 million persons who were deaf
Education for children with disabilities in pre-schools and in elementary, secondary, and
state-operated schools across the country
6. Key Legislation
1958: Captioned Films Acts: Supported the production and distribution of accessible films
1959: Training of Professional Personnel Act: Helped to train program administrators and
teachers of students with mental retardation
1961: Teachers of the Deaf Act: Trained instructional personnel for children who were deaf or
hard of hearing
1963: Congress expands PL 85-926 to include grants to train college teachers and researchers
in a broader range of disabilities
1965: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the States Schools Act:
Provided states with direct grant assistance to help educate children with disabilities.
ESEA was part of Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty," it provides federal funds to help low-income
students, which results in the initiation of educational programs such as Title I and bilingual
education.
During a time of other legislative changes:
First bilingual and bicultural public schools open in 1963
Civil Rights Act becomes law in 1964
7. Influential Groups
1961: President John F. Kennedy created the President’s Panel on Mental
Retardation
Recommended giving federal aid to state for students with disabilities
1963: Samuel A. Kirk uses the term “learning disability” at a Chicago conference on
children with perceptual disorders. The term sticks, and in 1964, the Association for
Children with Learning Disabilities, now the Learning Disabilities Association of
America, is formed.
Today, nearly one-half of all students in the U.S. who receive special education have been
identified as having learning disabilities.
8. Landmark Court Decisions
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Established the standard that each child be offered an education appropriate to his or her learning
capacities, as well as established a clear preference for the least restrictive placement for each
child.
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth (1971)
The federal court rules that students with mental retardation are entitled to a free public
education
Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia (1972)
District claimed their refusal to serve 12,340 children with disabilities was due to low budgets
Extends the PARC v. Pennsylvania ruling to other students with disabilities and requires the
provision of "adequate alternative educational services suited to the child's needs, which may
include special education . . ."
These cases established the responsibility of states and localities to educate children with
disabilities, affirming the right of every child with a disability to be educated
Grounded in the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The burden of insufficient funding cannot fall more heavily on children with disabilities than other
children
9. Closer to the IEP
1973: The Rehabilitation Act becomes law
Any recipient of federal funding must end discrimination of the offering of services to
people with disabilities
Section 504 of this act guarantees civil rights for people with disabilities in the context of
federally funded institutions and requires accommodations in schools including
participation in programs and activities as well as access to buildings.
Today, 504 Plans are used to provide accommodations for students with disabilities who
do not qualify for special education or an IEP.
10. Public Law 94-142
1975 - The Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) becomes federal law.
Required that a free, appropriate public education, suited to the student's individual needs, and
offered in the least restrictive setting be provided for all "handicapped" children.
States are given until 1978 (later extended to 1981) to fully implement the law.
Required that school districts provide administrative procedures so that parents of disabled children
could dispute decisions made about their children’s education. Once the administrative efforts were
exhausted, parents were then authorized to seek judicial review of the administration’s decision.
Introduced the concepts of:
1. Free Appropriate Public Education for children 3 to 21 years old (FAPE)
2. Protecting the rights of children with disabilities and their parents including due process rights
3. Individualized Education Program (IEP)
4. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
5. Assisting states and localities to provide for the education of all children with disabilities
through federal funding
11. Objectives of Research (to be further
explored):
To describe early special education practices and policies, with a focus on the
treatment of students with disabilities in American public schools
To highlight the violation of rights of individuals with disabilities before EHA 1975
To describe the legislative and litigation history of special education
To describe a shift of mindset on the treatment of individuals with disabilities and
the historical context of civil rights for individuals with disabilities
To describe key events, organizations, and individuals that contributed to the
evolution of special education in American schools.
12. Works Cited:
http://futureofchildren.org/publications/docs/06_01_01.pdf
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35/history/idea-35-history.pdf
http://www.eds-resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.html#1900
http://www.washington.edu/doit/history-and-current-trends-regarding-people-disabilities
http://www.ncld-youth.info/Downloads/disability_history_timeline.pdf
http://commons.trincoll.edu/edreform/2014/04/evolution-of-autism-in-public-schooling/
Hallahan, D. P., & Mercer, C. R. (2002). Learning disabilities: Historical perspectives. In R. Bradley, L.
Danielson, & D. P. Hallahan (Eds.), Identification of learning disabilities: Research to practice (pp. 1-
67). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Weiderholt, J. L. (1974). Historical perspectives on the education of the learning disabled. In L. Mann
& D. A. Sabatino (Eds.), The second review of special education (pp. 103-152). Philadelphia: JSE
Press