History of Special Education

Timeline for the history of special education: http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/1085189

State of Special Education

The current status of special education is that we have come a long way since the start of the movement in 1960’s. Yet, we still have a long way to go to reach complete and total equality for all students in the classroom. Legislation has evolved over the years to reflect the changing perceptions of people with mental and physical disabilities. Prior to the 1970’s, there was such a strong stigma attached to having a mental or physical disability, that authorities, medical professionals, and families kept those individuals locked behind closed doors in mental institutions or other highly restrictive facilities. Then, in the early 1970’s there were a series of exposés that elucidated the conditions in those facilities. The widespread publicity shed light for the American public on how inhumanely the staff members from the institutions were treating their patients and students. This lead to a public outcry and new laws to protect individuals with disabilities. The advancements made in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s paved the way for America to start viewing everyone as equals. Presidents from John F. Kennedy all the way to President Obama have signed laws in reference to making conditions better for special education students and their adult counterparts.

The National Education Association and the Council for Exceptional Children, along with other public interest groups, encourage their members to urge Congress to make the proper changes for equality in the special education classroom. Congress will for the first time in over 13 years, renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and hopefully make changes as needed. Equality for special education students means access to a challenging, motivating, and rigorous education via one-on-one support from highly trained educators, classrooms equipped with the appropriate technology to enhance the students’ learning experience and schools that are ready with facilities to receive the students.

A major challenge we face today is that not every school gets the funding it needs to carry out the necessary tasks to properly support our special education students. Sometimes the families and the community do not know how to effectively support the students. Because training may not always be available, it can be difficult to retain highly qualified teachers, aides and other staff members. Staff members may leave when situations become too overwhelming or when they do not have sufficient resources to complete their job. In the past, we learned that even though law makers may have good intentions when they create a law, poor implementation and management as well as overlooking key factors can lead to poor results for everyone, especially the students. By getting Congress to modify the laws for the benefit of the students and taking into consideration the pleas that the teachers, family and staff may have suggested, we can ensure that the special education reform process goes smoothly and makes positive strides going forward.

References

Council for Exceptional Children. (2015). Current Special/Gifted Education Issues. Retrieved from Council for Exceptional Children: http://www.cec.sped.org/Policy-and-Advocacy/Current-Sped-Gifted-Issues

MSDE. (2003). Overview. Retrieved from Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE): http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/earlyinterv/