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Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. This school marked an important turning point in deaf education. It established the instruction of sign language and developed American Sign Language as well. -
Brown v. Board of Education was a U.S. Supreme Court case that unanimously decided that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, it was decided that segregated schools denied equal protection under the law. This court case inspired a shift in all future desegregation efforts.
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This act provided federal funding to K-12 schools with the aim of provided equal access to quality education especially for lower-income students. This act established programs for disadvantaged students and also funded necessities such as textbooks. It also funded teacher training and instructional improvement with hopes to better the quality of education
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This act prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in all programs or activities that received federal funds. For example, education, transportation, healthcare, and even employment. It also established rights to reasonable accommodations such as extra time on tests for students. It also set a definition on the term "disability". -
This act guaranteed free and appropriate public education for all children who have disabilities. It also established Individualized Education Plans and placement in the least restrictive environments. Most importantly it mandated services for all students with special needs and ended an epidemic of exclusion from public schools. It laid the groundwork for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that came later on. -
This U.S. Supreme Court case defined "free and appropriate education" that was brought forward by the Education of the Handicapped Act. It rules that schools have to provide personalized instruction which would allow for disabled students to recieve some sort of educational benefit. It also established that a deaf student did not automatically need an interpreter if they performed above average and other services were sufficient. -
This act prohibited the discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. This act covered employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, transportation, and even telecommunication. This act was an expansion of the rights of people with disabilities and it deemed it unlawful to deny participation in such activities due to a disability. Additionally, it required reasonable accommodations for access to such activities. -
This change from the Education for All Handicapped Children Act to the Individuals with Disabilities Act expanded disability rights. It added traumatic brain injuries and autism as disability categories and also made Individualized Transition Plans mandatory for life after school for these individuals. Additionally this act added social work and rehabilitation counseling for people with disabilities. -
This act was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It aimed to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers by increasing accountability among schools for the outcome of their students. It required students to provide annual testing in math and reading to students in third through eighth grade and also once in high school. Schools had to set goals called Adequate Yearly Progress to aim to achieve 100% of all their students being proficient. -
This act was also a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and it replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. This act gave states primary control over what accountability systems they want to put in place. It also required state to publish "state report cards" and maintained annual testing for students. Additionally, it allowed for states to use other indicators beyond test scores to measure students and evaluate schools.