Special Education: Past and Present

In an effort to understand the current status of special education in the United States, it is important to look at events in history that have shaped special education into what it is today. The embedded timeline provides a quick look at a some event which have had an impact on the current educational climate for students with disabilities.



It's clear that throughout the years, legislators have spent time revising and refining the focus of laws in an attempt to provide individuals with disabilities with an education that is equal to that of students without disabilities. However, even with 40 years of refining since the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, there are still many issues in Special Education that still need to be addressed.

The most current federal law dealing with special education is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which was amended in 2004 (Understanding Special Education, 2009; Wright 2010). Through this act, students with disabilities are guaranteed the right to free public education with students who do not have disabilities in a setting close to home. Students with disabilities should also be provided with individualized support to help them succeed in their program. Finally, the child must be assessed to determine their needs, but only with consent from parents (Understanding Special Education, 2009). IDEA also requires special education teachers to be more highly qualified in order to ensure that quality of education for the students. The overarching purposes of IDEA are to address the individual needs of each student as well as to protect the students' and their parents' rights. 

While IDEA has certainly contributed to a better educational environment and higher achievement for individuals with disability than the previous legislation (or lack thereof), there are still many challenges faced by children with disabilities and their families. For one, there is still a lack of funding for special education programs. According to UnderstandingSpecialEducation.com (2009), only 15% of what is needed to support IDEA mandates is currently being provided by the federal government. This means that while the laws are in place to provide students with higher quality education, the resources are still not available to follow through with these promises. Another longstanding issue is the over representation of minority students in special education programs (Wright, 2010). Sikba et al. (2008) describe the many factors, including poverty, discrimination, and cultural differences which have contributed to this issue over time. While there have been attempts to reduce this over representation over time, it is still a major issue in special education today. 

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done before the major issues still plaguing special education are solved, and none of them have simple solutions. However, the educational environment for students with disabilities has seen much improvement over the past 40 years and the country is still working towards providing the highest quality, most equal education for all students.

References

Skiba, et al. (2008). Achieving Equity in Special Education: History, Status, and Current Challenges. Council for Exceptional Children. 74(3).
Understanding IEP Law and Special Education (2009). Understanding Special Education. Retrieved from http://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/special-education-law.html
Wright, P. W (2010). The History of Special Education Law - Wrightslaw. Retrieved from http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/art/history.spec.ed.law.htm