FREE ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE TWENTITH CENTURY

THE HISTORY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE TWENTITH CENTURY

During the twentieth century, drastic changes were made to vastly improve the special
education system to ensure that all students, regardless of their ability, were given
equal rights according to the Constitution of the United States.
During early colonial America, schooling was not mandatory and it was primarily given to
the wealthy Anglo-Saxon children (Carlson, p230). Children were mainly taught in the home
or in a single room schoolhouse. Therefore, children of limited mental capability were
not likely to be schooled. Also, in a non-graded schoolhouse, children of differing
abilities did not pose problems.
With the beginning of mandatory education in 1852 and the influx of large numbers of
immigrants with their children (Reddy, p5), America was faced for the first time with
educating a heterogeneous group of students. These children had diverse social and
cultural backgrounds, as well as something the educators of the previous, homogenous
schools had not been forced to deal with. Many of these children showed signs of various
learning, developmental, physical, and emotional/behavioral problems.
During the 1920's, separate schools were established for the blind, deaf, and more
severely retarded (Reddy, p5). However, students that were considered mildly disabled
were educated in regular schools, just thought to be 'slow learners'. Soon educators
started to develop separate classes for disabled students. The reasoning for taking them
out of the normal classroom (exclusion) has not changed in the last eighty years. People
today, who are still in favor of exclusion, have the same justification for their belief.
It was thought that students with special needs required separate classrooms, where they
would receive individualized attention and instruction. In these special classrooms, a
specially trained teacher would provide the instruction.
As ideal as this might sound, it is hardly what did occur. The optimism of the educators
to successfully teach the disabled students faded during the 1930's and the 1940's.
Special education classes were held under horrible conditions. The rooms were
insufficient, with limited resources, the teachers were poorly trained and the curriculum
was inadequate. Schools also often classified students as having disabilities when they
did not. Additionally, students were often labeled with one type disability when they had
another. This practice (misclassification) (Turnbull et al p16) was a common
discrimination in American schools.
One might wonder why the conditions were so deplorable. Why were the teachers so terribly
unqualified? It appears that the common perception of the disabled students was like that
of Quasimodo, in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. They were misunderstood, and
considered to be monstrous--something to be hidden away, shunned and rejected by 'normal'
people. The public's attitude with disabled children was one of fear, as if the
disability was somehow contagious. They were looked upon as 'crazy' people. This general
outlook set the standard for educating students with special needs. They were classified
as inferior, so why should the school system bother to work with 'the retards'? The
mind-set was that these students were 'untrainable' (Koch, p907) so they were not of
worthy satisfactory conditions and competent teachers.
In the course of the 1950's, parents started to become vocal about the outrageous
conditions of the special education classes. Then, greatly encouraged by the Civil Rights
movement, advocates for students with disabilities began to sue state and local
officials. Their main argument was that exclusion and misclassification violated the
students' rights to an equal educational opportunity under the United States
Constitution. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court decided that
schools are not allowed to segregate their students by race. In view of that, the
advocates argued, schools may also not segregate students by their ability. After all,
students are students, regardless of their race or ability.
The advocates for equal right in education, proved to be successful in pleading their
case. On October 7th, 1971, a federal court ordered Pennsylvania to provide a free public
education to all retarded children (PARV v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). The next year
(August, 1972), a federal judge ordered Washington, D.C. to offer educational facilities
to all handicapped and emotionally disturbed children (Mills v. Washington, D.C.). These
legislations served three main purposes. The first was to provide a free and appropriate
education to all students with disabilities, a right that was long overdue. The second
purpose was to educate students with special needs in the same school and, to the maximum
extent, the same programs as their non-disabled peers. The third purpose was to put into
effect a 'checks-and-balances' system so that students with disabilities have legal
recourse in the case of a school not living up to the requirements made by the law
(Turnbull et al p17).
Three pioneers of special education envisioned a different profession. They had new ideas
on how to serve children with disabilities. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, they
began to vocalize their criticism for the old system and ideas to rectify the problems.
By showing these new ways, they paved the way for modern special education.
As early as 1968, Lloyd Dunn began to question the efficiency of placing students with
mild disabilities into special classes. It was his belief that children must stop being
labeled as 'mentally retarded'. "Furthermore," Dunn states, "we must stop segregating
them by placing them into our allegedly special programs." (Dunn, p299-237) Dunn argued
that special educators should assume fundamentally new roles. They should work with
general education teachers, providing them with resources and consultation. In doing
that, many students could remain in general education and avoid separate placements all
together. 
In advocating mainstreaming for those with mild disabilities, Dunn also emphasized the
importance of special education placement rather than exclusion for those students with
severe disabilities. As previously stated, children with more pronounced or severe
disabilities were considered outcasts and excluded from school altogether.
Dunn also questioned the need for disability labeling. Instead, he suggested using labels
that describe the nature of the education that the student was going to receive, such as
language or cognitive development. Dunn's ideas caused educators to become more aware of
the needs for non-discriminatory assessments and placement in general education
settings.
In 1970, another activist, Evelyn Deno, published an article, "Special Education as
Developmental Capital". She was committed to making schools more responsive to diversity
among children. Deno challenged that the special education system should improve the
effectiveness of public school education for all students. Deno offered the concept of a
cascade of services to reshape the school system. "The cascade system is designed to make
available whatever different-from-the- mainstream kind of setting is required to control
the warning variables deemed critical for the individual case." (Deno, p5-22) Deno's
major argument was in favor of individualized, student-centered education and against
system-centered sorting. It was the blueprint for the placement options that are major
parts of federal and state special education laws and practices. 
In 1972, James Gallagher voiced his concern that students with mild disabilities were
being retained in classes that were not assisting them, seeing as their need for
specialized education had expired. This contract would safeguard against incorrect and
permanent placements, as well as help educators emphasize students' strengths and
positive contributions. Gallagher stated that "placement of primary school age, or mildly
retarded, or disturbed, or learning disabled children in a special education unit would
require a contract signed between parents and educators, with specific goals and a clear
time limit." (Gallagher, p527-535)
Gallagher's ideas, modified to some extent, resurfaced just three years later. The
modified version found its way into a federal law in the form of an individualized
education program (IEP), and a due process of hearing.
The advocates' success culminated 1975 when, on November 29, President Gerald Ford signed
the Education of All Handicapped Students Act (EHA). This act authorized state grants to
help give all handicapped children a free and appropriate education, and also tried to
combat the misclassification and exclusion of school age children between the ages of six
and eighteen.
As EHA was being executed, and schools became more and more accessible and appropriate
for those students with disabilities, Congress was willing to include more children under
EHA's protection. In 1983 and 1986, Congress amended the law to provide early childhood
special education for children ages three to five. It was also believed that children
with disabilities could also use assistance in the transition from childhood to
adulthood. Congress amended the law again to ensure that students age sixteen and older
would have an education, specifically geared towards helping them to become independent,
productive, and included in the mainstream of American life. (Turnbull et al, p20)
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Programs administers the programs
mandated by EHA. Each state education agency must develop their own regulations and
guidelines that conform to the federal regulations before the state can receive federal
funding for the programs. EHA established how federal money is to be given and spent in
the program.
When the EHA was first implemented in the 1977-78 school year and until around the
mid-1980's, the term that describes the education of students with disabilities alongside
those who did not have disabilities is mainstreaming. Mainstreaming was defined as "the
educational arrangement of placing handicapped students in regular classes with their
non-handicapped peers to the maximum extent appropriate." (Turnbull & Schulz, p52)
Mainstreaming was generally applied within the non-academic areas of curriculum, such as
art, music, and physical education. Most of these students were still enrolled in
self-contained special education classes—they 'visited' general education classes
for a small part of the day. For many educators and parents, the concept of mainstreaming
provided too little and came much too late to help the students. Their impatience led to
another movement: the Regular Education Initiative.
In 1986, the Regular Education Initiative (REI) debate began. Assistant Secretary of the
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services for the U.S. Department of
Education, Madeleine Will, spoke out against special education services. She stated that
the services excluded many students who needed special education services (exclusion,
once again), or withheld special programs until the student fails; rather than supplying
the special education prior to failure. (Will, p411-415) Will also claimed that school
was isolating students placed in special education from their peers and general school
activities. (Will, p411-415)
Madeleine Will approached the REI with her mentally disabled son, Jon, in mind. She had a
vision that adult independence and a network of friends could, and in fact, should be the
outcome of special education. Her tireless efforts caused many significant changes in the
entire approach to special education. New concepts of inclusion and collaboration evolved
from the REI. (Turnbull et al, p85)
The Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was amended by Congress in 1990,
and renamed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The new IDEA required
schools to integrate special needs students into regular classrooms. Under IDEA, special
needs students are entitled to free special services, such as laptop computers, tape
recorders, and tailored homework assignments. They can also be given extra time on
standardized tests, or be given the tests orally, if the need so demands. Schools found
to be non-compliant with the legislation were mandated to justify why they were not in
compliance. ( i.e. why a special needs student is not participating with regular students
in academic, non-academic, and extracurricular activities.) (IDEA, 1999)
IDEA is such an extensive law that it is divided into several parts, the main parts being
parts A, B, and C. Part A tells on what grounds Congress justifies IDEA; it also
describes the purposes and policies that Congress intends to implement by enacting IDEA.
Part B declares the rights of students between the ages of three and twenty-one. Part C
benefits infants and toddlers. (Turnbull et al., p20) 
IDEA defines special education as specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs
of a student with a disability. There is a two part standard for eligibility for special
education. First, there must be a categorical element, (the student must have a
disability) and second, there must be a functional element (the disability must cause the
student to need specially designed instruction) (Turnbull et al., p20). Under IDEA, the
specially designed instruction is free, provided in a variety of settings and includes
related services.
While keeping in mind that Part B of IDEA concerns student's ages three to twenty-one,
these students must have a disability that affects their ability to learn as stated
above. The following elements are justifiable in IDEA's perception of a need for special
services: specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, mental retardation,
autism, physical disabilities, traumatic brain injury, speech or language impairments,
hearing impairments (including deafness), and visual impairments (including blindness)
(IDEA) early childhood special education, while in the same category, may include
children who are experiencing delays in physical, cognitive, communication, social and/or
emotional developments. Those developmental delays could require special education and
its services (IDEA)
Part C of IDEA concerns infants and toddlers, as already mentioned. These children either
need early intervention services, (most likely due to developmental delays) or have
already been diagnosed with a physical or mental disability that has a high probability
of resulting in a developmental delay. Early intervention services must be provided by
qualified personnel and in the same environment (if possible) that the child would be in,
had they not had the disability. (IDEA)
It is not enough for IDEA to simply identify the students who are entitled to benefit
from the legislation. It is also necessary for IDEA to specify exactly what benefits (or
rights) are given to the students. IDEA does that very plainly, setting up six principles
to govern the education of students with disabilities. The principles are as follows
(IDEA):
1. Zero Rejection
2. Non-discrimatory evaluation
3. Appropriate evaluation
4. Least Restrictive Environment
5. Procedural due process
6. Parental and student participation 
The first four principles describe what the schools contribute to the student. Zero
rejection is a rule against excluding any student. Non-discrimatory evaluation requires
schools to fairly evaluate students to see if they have a disability, and if so, what
kind and how extensive. Appropriate education requires schools to provide IEP's
(Individualized Education Program) for children ages three through twenty-one, and IFSP's
(Individualized Family Services Plan) for infants and toddlers. They are also required to
augment the programs with related services and supplementary aids and materials. Once a
school has enrolled the student, fairly evaluated them, and provided an appropriate
education plan, there is one more thing IDEA calls for. That is education with the
students who don't have special needs in the least restrictive environment (LRE). That
concept is also known as mainstreaming, integration, and inclusion (Turnbull et al.,
p23-29).
The last two principles are more like checks and balances, which ensures the results of
special education are what they should be. Procedural due process is a safeguard for
students to ensure their full IDEA rights. This principle also gives them the option to
sue in a court of law if their rights are violated. The principle of parental and student
participation is a rule requiring schools to collaborate with parents and adolescent
students in designing and carrying out special education programs.
As evident, special education has vastly improved over the course of the last hundred
years. The quality of education given to those with special needs is finally starting to
equal that of the non-disabled child. One can only wonder why it took so long if America
is indeed, the land of the free, with liberty and justice for all.
Bibliography
Work-Cited
Carlson, Cindy Changing the School Culture Toward Integrated Services (Austin,
Texas, University of Texas, Haworth Press; 1996) 
Dane, Elizabeth. Painful Passages: Working with Children with Learning Disabilities 
(Maryland, NASW Press; 1990)
Deno, Evelyn. "Special Education as Developmental Capital" Exceptional Children 
(1970)
Dunn, L.M. "Special Education for the Mildly Retarded-Is Much of it Justifiable?"
Exceptional Children (1968) 
Gallagher, J.J. "The Special Education Contract for Mildly Handicapped Children" 
Exceptional Children (1972)
Koch, Kathy. "Special Education" Congressional Quarterly (November, 2000)
Reddy, Linda, A. Inclusion of Disabled Children and School Reform: A Historical 
Perspective (New Jersey; Fairleigh Dickinson University, Haworth Press;
1999)
Turnbull, A.P. et al. Exceptional Lives (2nd edition) (New Jersey; Prentice Hall Inc. 
1999)