Students and teachers in the 21st century might assume special education has always been part of the U.S. educational system. However, special education was not always a given for students who need tailored services to meet their learning needs. In studying legal issues in the online Master of Science in Education (MSE) in Special Education – Instructional Specialist K-12 program from Arkansas State University, degree candidates will explore the laws that established special education mandates and practices in the U.S., providing a unique perspective on the history of the field.
The U.S. did not always educate children with disabilities in public school systems. If a child had cognitive or emotional disabilities, deafness or blindness or needed speech therapy, parents had to educate their children at home or pay for private education, generally limiting school-based education for students with disabilities to those from wealthy families.
Over the last century and a half, parents and educators began the process of securing public special education by creating advocacy groups and associations for children with disabilities, such as the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), originally established in 1922. As the decades progressed, continued advocacy led to incremental legislation establishing funding for and the right to public education for students with disabilities, evolving into what’s now known as special or exceptional education.
The Timeline of Special Education Laws: From Civil Rights to ESSA
Some consider the timeline of laws impacting special education to begin with the landmark civil rights case, Brown vs. Board of Education. This case resulted in a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision mandating an end to segregation in schools. While this decision focused on racial desegregation in schools, it also spurred a movement, supported by established legal precedent, to end inequity in education and school segregation for all students, including those with disabilities.
While the following years saw an expansion of education for students with disabilities in public schools, many educational systems still lacked the funding to provide these students with adequate educational services that met their individual needs. This began to change with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and most recently reauthorized and amended in 2015 as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). A critical provision of ESEA sought to improve educational equity by providing funding for the education of disadvantaged students.
Special Education Laws Evolve With the Birth of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act
In 1975, Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA). The EHA was a seminal law in the history of special education, designed to protect the rights of, meet the needs of and improve results for children and youth with disabilities. The EHA guaranteed all children with disabilities a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), emphasizing special education and services designed to meet each child’s unique needs in the least restrictive environment.
This act helped bring federal funds into schools to create special education services and programming for children with disabilities and learning differences. In 1990, the EHA became what we now know as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), establishing critical components of special education like creating an individual transition plan (ITP) for the transition to post-secondary life as part of each student’s comprehensive, carefully constructed individualized education program (IEP).
Congress reauthorized IDEA in 2004 and continuously revises and updates the law, incorporating what educators, families and researchers learn about how best to serve children. For instance, in line with the concept of the least restrictive environment and other tenets of special education, schools shifted from isolating children with disabilities in dedicated classrooms to prioritizing inclusive general education classrooms where children of all abilities can learn from and with each other.
Protecting the Rights of Children With Disabilities
As noted above, law requires schools to provide appropriate education to all students in the least restrictive environment possible. As an example, this means that, in the absence of other complicating factors, it is illegal to separate children who use wheelchairs or other assistive equipment from children who do not require such assistance. Assistive technologies are key tools for accommodation used to ensure students with differences categorized among a range of disabilities can participate in inclusive education to the fullest extent possible.
All children enjoy the right to an education and the chance to build successful lives. Children have a right to learn in diverse classrooms where every student has something different to offer. It is important for schools to be true microcosms of the outside world so that students learn to treat everyone with respect. Special education helps all students find their voices and share them in their own ways.
Giving Families and Caregivers a Voice in Their Children’s Education
Most children have families or caregivers who love and care about them in ways no one else can. This means that these families and caregivers need to have voices in the discussion of their children’s education.
Families and caregivers take part in every decision in special education as both experts on and advocates for their children. This begins with including families and caregivers in the collaborative team of educators, experts and community members responsible for designing a child’s IEP. This family involvement continues throughout IEP implementation, review, revision and the eventual execution of the student’s ITP as they transition to work, life and education beyond secondary school.
Helping Teachers Identify Needs and Provide Appropriate Special Education
When teachers manage inclusive classrooms, they need concrete plans, including best practices, strategies and goals for each child. Through mandating the careful development of a child’s IEP, special education laws ensure that educators, administrators and families have clear, actionable, realistic and measurable goals written out in detail, along with effective strategies and methods to achieve those goals.
As experts in the field, instructional specialists and other special education teachers work closely with general education teachers to make sure they fully understand the IEP and have the knowledge and tools needed to implement it effectively. Ongoing collaboration among all members of the child’s educational and community support system is crucial for ensuring that child’s success and growth.
Cost Should Not Outweigh Educational Opportunity
Unfortunately, cost often underpins challenges and controversies surrounding special education. It can be much more costly to educate children with disabilities because they may require more dedicated educator time and resources than a general education child does. Assistive technologies used to facilitate inclusion in general education environments can also be prohibitively expensive.
However, this should never be a reason to reduce the quality of education for any child. Education evolves, as do regulations, but the tenets of special education law and the rights they afford remain.
Special Education Instructional Specialists Can Drive Improved Outcomes for All Students
Many of the new standards encourage inclusive classrooms, where students of all abilities can learn together. By advancing their own education and expertise, teachers who become instructional specialists are likely at the forefront of developing better teaching methods and more effective practices for students who receive special education services.
In fact, the instructional methods that special education teachers develop and use effectively often prove impactful for all students, as every student has differing learning styles and unique needs. Programs like the MSE in Special Education – Instructional Specialist K-12 online degree from A-State prepare educators to serve as key resources for other teachers looking to enhance their own teaching practices, supporting critical professional development. In this way, innovations in special education move education practices forward, improving learning outcomes for all students.
Learn about A-State’s online MSE in Special Education – Instructional Specialist K-12 program.