Special Education History

Words: 1578
Pages: 7

Running head: History of Special Education

History of Special Education

Marie Cudia
Grand Canyon University: SPE526: Educating Learners with Diverse Needs
April 2, 2012
History of Special Education

The history of Special Education just as any history; is a long battle that has been fought by many who cared in order to bring us to where we are today. Its Journey has and will be never ending; since society is forever evolving. We will be fighting for equal rights in education and in life for many years to come since the definition of Special Education is not a precise one. In this paper you will learn the basics of what injustices we have risen above, to the current state we are in, and even what possibilities
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There are MANY things I would like to purpose as changes for the upcoming re-authorization of IDEA, but these are the most important ones! The first Thing I would do is have a specific set of criteria that would determine and define Special Education because there is not one definition of what our government considers Special Education. It needs to not be a blanket that can be interpreted in so many ways; this is why we have so many legal cases. Second if the government would like “Highly Qualified Teachers” then why is it that General Education teachers only have to take 2 classes about the Special Education System yet every classroom in the U.S. is guaranteed to have at least one student with an IEP! Heward cited that "more than 6 million children and youth with disabilities, ages 3-21, received Special Education Services during the 2005-2006 school year" and that number has only continued to increase in grades 1st -7th due to early detection (U.S. Department of Education, as cited in Heward, 2009, p. 10-11). Last, we consider Children with Behavior problems to be Special Education students, but they have to go through a huge system before we can get them help. Referral, FBA, BIP, BSP, IEP, and then they may be