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History of special education.

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744———Special Education, History of

Peterson, J. M., & Hittie, M. M. (2003). Inclusive teaching: second-class citizens, and often states took custody,
Creating effective schools for all learners. Boston: Allyn which disempowered families from having rights with
& Bacon.
regard to their child with a disability.
Sands, D. J., Kozleski, E. B., & French, N. K. (2000).
Inclusive education for the 21st century. Belmont,
Because individuals with disabilities were viewed
CA: Wadsworth. as a burden to society and uneducable, the conditions
of institutions were often inhumane, with solitary con-
finement being the norm. It was not until the early
1900s that schools began to open their doors to indi-
SPECIAL EDUCATION, HISTORY OF viduals with disabilities as a result of parent advocacy
groups. However, institutionalization and isolationism
The special education movement can be characterized continued to prevail until the early 1970s. In fact, the
as having three major phases, exclusion and isolation, last institutions were dismantled during the Reagan
access and inclusion, and accountability and administration in the mid-1980s during the deinstitu-
empowerment. Historically, up until the mid-1960s tionalization movement.
and 1970s, disability was viewed as an abnormality or
“freak of nature,” and individuals who had disabilities
were forced into isolation and exclusion. During the Access and Inclusion
civil rights era through the 1980s, parents and The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s had a
advocates pushed to shift this perspective and gain major impact on the treatment of individuals with dis-
rights for individuals with disabilities through access abilities, and its ripple effect took hold through a series
and inclusion. From the 1990s to the present, of court cases. Brown v. Board of Education forever
individuals with disabilities have become empowered changed the treatment of all students in education
and are working toward redefining their role and because of the change in educational law and procedure,
identity in society as a cultural phenomenon rather which had a tremendous effect on school policies and
than inferior to able-bodied, able-minded individuals procedures. The Brown case put desegregation at the
in the dominant mainstream. Additionally, systems forefront of equitable education and outlawed segrega-
such as case law and statutes, public and private tion based on unalterable characteristics such as race
programs, and advocacy organizations have been and disability because it violated equal protections and
created to make schools accountable for providing denied children equal educational opportunity.
equal educational opportunity for all students, The primary contention of the Brown case, that seg-
including individuals with disabilities. This entry regation by race was a denial of equal educational
reviews the political and social aspects that influenced opportunity, became the gateway for the disability
each of these historical phases in special education. movement because children with disabilities were
experiencing total exclusion, at best separate schooling
through institutions, with the norm being no access to
Isolation and Exclusion
schooling at all. In 1972, two landmark cases,
Up until the mid-twentieth century, individuals with Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens
disabilities were excluded from mainstream society, (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Mills v.
often being housed in institutions that isolated them Board of Education of the District of Columbia,
from the outside world and their families. Individuals became the catalysts for the right-to-education move-
with disabilities were considered abnormal and unable ment in the disability community. The PARC ruling
to function in society. It was said that such individuals stated that individuals with mental retardation between
disrupted and negatively influenced those in the main- the ages of six and twenty-one must be provided with
stream, which caused many families to stow away their a free public education in programs comparable to
family member with a disability in attics or remote their nondisabled peers. The Mills case paved the way
places. Individuals with disabilities were treated as for the right to due process and procedural safeguards
 Special Education, History of———745

such as the right to a hearing with representation, a families banded together and affiliated themselves
record, and an impartial officer; the right to appeal; the with national organizations to push local school dis-
right to have access to records; and the requirement of tricts and key personnel as well as lobby state and
written notice during all phases of the process. Almost national politicians. Many of these groups (e.g., Asso-
simultaneously, in 1973, another important act was ciation for Retarded Citizens, The Association for
passed, Public Law (P.L.) 93-112, the Rehabilitation Persons with Severe Handicaps, Council for Excep-
Act. Section 504, as it is often referenced, stated that tional Children) continue to be the largest and most
any agency or activity receiving federal funding could influential lobbying forces today.
not discriminate against or deny benefits to individuals In the 1980s, there was much resistance to inclusion
with disabilities. of individuals with varying disabilities, in part because
In spite of these landmark decisions and the addi- teachers had not been trained or educated in how to pro-
tional forty-six cases filed in twenty-eight states fol- vide inclusive education and resources were limited for
lowing these decisions, school districts continued to implementing appropriate inclusion programming.
plead that they did not have the financial, program- Because parent advocacy groups had already begun to
matic, and staffing resources to provide adequate equal organize in the 1970s, these groups continued to apply
educational opportunity. As a result, the federal gov- pressure on the local school districts and practiced their
ernment increased its role in special education through right to due process. In 1986, the Handicapped
the Education of All Handicapped Children Action Children’s Protection Act was passed, which afforded
(EAHCA) or P.L. 94-142, which was passed into law in courts the authority to award attorney’s fees to parents
1975. The primary purpose of this bill was to provide or guardians who were in litigation.
not only an educational bill of rights but also financial In addition, during the Reagan administration, early
incentives to assist schools in providing equal educa- childhood intervention became of interest as reports
tional opportunity. This bill marked the beginning of an demonstrated the long-term success of early interven-
era of disability rights and inclusion. In the next twenty tion programs from the 1960s and 1970s. As a result,
years, public education went through major growing the Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Act (ITDA)
pains to accommodate individuals with disabilities and was passed in 1986, which is now a subchapter under
shift its perspective toward the inclusion of all individ- the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
uals with disabilities, ranging from those who are med- Through ITDA, parents and families receive compre-
ically fragile with multiple disabilities to those with hensive services for their child from the onset of diag-
mild learning disabilities. nosis through school-age, typically birth through age
Simultaneously, society at large went through major five. These services differ from what is provided in the
shifts in perspective as individuals with disabilities public education system because they are developmen-
became more visible in the educational system and tal in nature. Thus, a heavy emphasis is placed on work-
participated in everyday activities within their neigh- ing with families to promote the development of the
borhood communities. As a result of educational oppor- physical, cognitive, communicative, social/emotional,
tunity, individuals with disabilities were not only and adaptive abilities of the child.
attending public schools and general education classes, At the end of the 1980s, the Americans with
but also graduating from high school and going on to Disabilities Act (ADA), which afforded antidiscrimi-
college. This was a big shift in consciousness from the nation protection, was introduced in Congress. This
early part of the century when isolationism and exclu- was a momentous time for the disability community as
sion were not only the norm but encouraged. Many dis- many came together to educate and advocate for the
ability advocacy groups gained popularity during this civil rights of individuals with disabilities. Each day,
era, even though their roots began well before 1975. the disability community shared stories, both with
Without the dedication and mobilization of parents politicians and the American people, of discrimination
and families, many believe that the disability rights that excluded and segregated individuals with disabili-
movement would not have succeeded. Parents and ties from being full participants in society. As a result
746———Special Education, History of

of this consciousness raising, people-first language the general education classroom to provide services,
became popularized. The use of people-first language including consultation, collaboration, and co-teaching,
was a concrete way of demonstrating the ideology that and assist the general education teacher in developing
individuals with disabilities should be viewed as modifications and accommodations of the curriculum
people first, with their disability as secondary. Thus, for students with special needs.
when referring to an individual with a disability, it is Also in the 1997 reauthorization, the age for transi-
proper etiquette to note the individual first and the dis- tion services was lowered to fourteen to ensure appro-
ability second (e.g., a student who uses a wheelchair priate planning for successful transition into adulthood;
instead of the wheelchair-bound student, a student the language of free and appropriate education was
with a learning disability instead of the learning dis- added to signify the ideology of education as a right;
abled student, etc.). and nondiscriminatory assessment and inclusion in
state assessments were added to ratchet up accountabil-
ity of special education placement, services, and pro-
Empowerment
grams. As a result, the 1990s marked the beginning of
ADA and people-first language greatly impacted the the era of accountability and empowerment as the con-
reauthorization of IDEA in the 1990s. In the 1990 sciousness of the American people shifted with the use
reauthorization, the word handicap was replaced with of people-first language, education as a right ideology,
disability, people-first language was used, and a transi- and the mandate for accountability.
tion component for students sixteen years and older The reauthorization of IDEA in 2004 continued to
was added. Transition services provide a plan to ensure move the agenda of accountability and empowerment
successful transition into adulthood for students leav- forward by emphasizing the implementation of a stan-
ing high school. This can include housing and services dards-based curriculum and scientifically based
in the community, employment opportunities through instruction, ensuring and defining highly qualified
job skills training, and college readiness through finan- teachers, and mandating the use of the response to
cial and counseling assistance. instruction model to determine appropriate interven-
The 1997 reauthorization had a drastic impact on tions and referral to special education. Response to
how students with disabilities were treated and edu- instruction examines the parameters in teaching and
cated in the public education system by affording more learning that affect how a student learns and uses data
rights and access to a free and appropriate education. to change instructional practices so that students with
Prior to this reauthorization, services for individuals disabilities can access content from the general educa-
with disabilities were still primarily provided through tion curriculum. This approach serves to empower
a pull-out or resource-room model in which students students with disabilities by raising expectations and
were provided services outside of the general educa- outcomes for learning and positioning educators and
tion classroom, either by being pulled from their gen- schools to be more accountable in doing so. There is
eral education classroom or by attending a separate, no longer a question as to whether accessing the gen-
segregated class often called a resource room. These eral education curriculum is appropriate, but rather a
separate services often used a different curriculum critical examination of how we create interventions
with lower standards than that provided in the general and adaptations so that students with disabilities can
education setting. access this knowledge.
As a result of the reauthorization of IDEA in 1997,
schools were mandated to provide services in the least Barbara J. Dray
restrictive environment, and the model for special edu-
cation services began to change whereby schools were See also Disabilities and the Politics of Schooling; Disability
shifting their primary mode of services from a segre- Studies; Special Education, Contemporary Issues
gated model to an inclusionary model. Through an
inclusionary model, special education teachers enter See Visual History Chapter 21, Students With Special Needs
 Spelman College———747

Further Readings African American education in general. With addi-

Patton, J. R., Polloway, E. A., & Smith, T. E. C. (2000). tional support from the American Baptist Home
Educating students with mild mental retardation. Focus on Mission Society and its women’s auxiliary, nine acres
Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 15(2), of land and five buildings—former Union Army
80–89. barracks—were purchased. The financial support of
Polloway, E. A., Smith, J. D., Patton, J. R., & Smith, T. E. C. Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Sr., together with
(1996). Historic changes in mental retardation and
other gifts ranging from $1 to $1,000, made it possible
developmental disabilities. Education and Training in
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, to complete payment of the mortgage.
31, 3–12. The school moved to its new location in February
Winzer, M. A. (1993). The history of special education: From 1883, and Packard and Giles fought a proposal to merge
isolation to integration. Washington, DC: Gallaudet Press. the female seminary with the Atlanta Baptist Seminary, a
Yell, M. L., Rogers, D., & Rogers, E. L. (2006). The history school for males. Packard and Giles believed that their
of the law and children with disabilities. In M. Yell (Ed.),
female students would be better served by keeping the
The law and special education (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall. schools separate. To do so, they had to raise enough
money to support separate schools, and they received
money from Baptists in the North and African American
Baptists in Georgia. The Rockefellers donated the
SPELMAN COLLEGE remaining amount needed, and in 1884, the school’s
name was changed to Spelman Seminary in honor of
Spelman College is a historically Black women’s Laura Spelman Rockefeller and her parents.
college in Atlanta, Georgia, that is now part of the The curriculum expanded to include college
Atlanta University Center Consortium. Over the years, preparatory classes equivalent to high school. A nurse
Spelman has played a key role in training African training department opened in 1886, followed in 1891
American women for leadership and preparing them by a missionary training department. A new building
for graduate study. Spelman currently has about 2,100 was dedicated in 1918 to house the expanded home
students from forty-one states and fifteen foreign economics program. Spelman Seminary established
countries. With a ranking of 75, it was the only the College Department in 1897, although most of the
historically Black institution included in U.S. News & college work was at nearby Morehouse College.
World Report’s 2008 listing of the top 100 liberal arts One of the most significant events in Spelman’s his-
colleges in the United States. The college also has the tory occurred in 1924, when it changed from a semi-
highest graduation rate among historically Black nary to a full-fledged college intended to provide a
institutions, and at 77 percent, its record surpasses the liberal arts education to its students. Under the leader-
graduation rate for Black students at a number of high- ship of Florence Matilda Read, who served as president
ranking public and private institutions. from 1927 to 1953, the curriculum was expanded, with
Spelman was established following the Civil War to college courses established in the humanities, fine arts,
educate emancipated slaves. Two New England women, social sciences, and natural sciences.
Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles, founded Spelman Albert E. Manley, the first Black and first male
in 1881 not only to teach women and girls to read, write, president, succeeded Read in 1953, ending nearly a
and do simple arithmetic, but also to prepare them to half century of New England leadership. During his
serve as teachers, missionaries, and church workers. tenure from 1953 to 1976, Spelman strengthened its
Practical skills were also stressed as part of preparing liberal arts program with the addition of non-Western
students to be good homemakers and mothers. and ethnic studies courses. Several other new pro-
In 1882, after hearing a presentation by Packard and grams were implemented in the 1970s, including
Giles at Wilson Avenue Church in Cleveland, Ohio, freshman orientation and freshman studies, the health
one of the church members, John D. Rockefeller, careers program, the family planning program, and
became a lifelong contributor both to the school and to cooperative programs with non-Black institutions.

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