Special Education Curriculum, History of

Historically, special education curriculum can be viewed before landmark federal legislationPublic Law (Pub. L. No.) 94–142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act passed in 1975 and after this public law was enacted. Influenced by the civil rights movement, and by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that separate education is not equal, Pub. L. No. 94–142 provided that “special classes, separate schools, or other removal of handicapped children from the regular education environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the handicap is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.” The term least restrictive environment (LRE) emerged from this legislation, meaning all students with disabilities must be ...