Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): The Social Foundations and History

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA)The Social Foundations and History
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Timeline

• 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
• 1964 Civil Rights Movement Act
• 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act
• The Education of the Handicapped Act of 1970
• 1972 Willowbrook
• 1972 Mill v. Board of Education
• 1974 Bilingual Education Act

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Brown v. Board of Education 1954

• Found that segregation of schools based on race
  was unconstitutional and violated the 14th
  Amendment
• Segregation policies did not provide equal
  educational opportunities for black students
• Catalyst for families of children with special
  needs

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Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Provided protection to all Americans from
  discrimination based on
• race, religion, gender, or ethnicity
• Opened door to families fighting for children
  with disabilities

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Elementary and Secondary Education Act 1965

• President Lyndon Johnson
• teacher that became president
• First law that provided federal funds for
  education
• Included monies for schools that provide
  education for students with disabilities

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The Education of the Handicapped Act of 1970

• First law to directly address children/students
  with disabilities
• Expanded federal monies for program development,
  teacher training and financial assistance for
  special needs students

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Willowbrook State School 1972

• Opened in 1947
• Facility/school for children with mental
  retardation
• Deplorable conditions
• Overcrowding, untrained staff, physical, mental
  and sexual abuse, unsanitary conditions
• Senator Robert Kennedy (1965) called facility a
  snake pit
• Geraldo Rivera (1972) uncovered conditions and
  brought to public
• Ultimately led to Civil Rights of
  Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980.

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Mill v. Board of Education - 1972

• Put the responsibility of educating children with
  disabilities on states and localities
• Ruling helped support the creation of the
  Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

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Bilingual Education Act 1974

• Reauthorization of the 1968 act
• Expanded requirements to all English language
  learners regardless of socioeconomics
• Required all schools to comply, whether they
  received federal funding or not
• Provided funds for districts to establish
  curriculum, provide training to staff, and
  conduct research on bilingual programs

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Conclusion

• The Civil Rights Movement was the catalyst behind
  many of the laws we have today with regard to the
  rights of the disabled, women, and minorities.
• Movement gave power to those who advocated for
  equal education for the physically and mentally
  disabled and those with learning disabilities
• Federal funding at 40 had been promised, but the
  government has not followed through to date.

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References

• Debello, V.L.(2008). Willowbrook state school a
  voice behind the wall. Message posted to
  http//willowbrookstateschool.blogspot.com /2006/
  11/historyof-willowbrook-state- school.html.
• (2007). History twenty-five years of progress in
  educating children with disabilities through
  IDEA. Retrieved October 27, 2008 from
  http//www.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/h istory
  .html

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References continued

• Martin, E.W., Martin, R., Terman, D.L. (1996).
  The legislative and litigation history of
  special education. Special Education for
  Students with Disabilities, 6(1), 25-39.
• Mondale, S.(2001). A struggle for educational
  equality 1950-1980