Mainstreaming, Current Practices in

History of Inclusive Practices in Special Education

Before the mid-1970s, students with disabilities rarely received specialized services in public school settings. Schools were not required to instruct or even enroll students with disabilities. Many students remained at home and received little to no schooling, some attended self-contained programs at specialized schools, and many attended residential programs. Most of these self-contained and residential programs focused on caring for basic student needs, and few, if any, academic goals were addressed.

With the support of strong parent advocacy groups, litigation, and federal legislation, the education system began to change. In 1975, Public Law 94–142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was passed. This law introduced the principle of a free appropriate public education for all students. It also provided rights to students with disabilities and their parents, including due process. One of the key principles introduced through P.L. 94–142 was the placement of students in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The idea of LRE is that students are to be educated with their nondisabled peers to the greatest extent possible while still receiving an appropriate education.

Although this legislation greatly advanced the education of students with disabilities, they remained in self-contained settings within the public school system, rather than receiving instruction alongside their peers without disabilities. At the time P.L. 94–142 was adopted, many educators interpreted the principle of LRE as requiring only that students with disabilities be educated in the same school and eat lunch in the same cafeteria as students without disabilities, not that they receive instruction together where possible and appropriate. Over the next decades, parent groups advocated for changes in this interpretation.

In 1990 and 1997, amendments were made to P.L. 94–142, which was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. The amendments included changes in identification, transition, and eligibility. IDEA 1997 required students to receive education in general education classrooms to the greatest extent possible and brought clarification to the term LRE. Amendments were made to the IDEA again in 2004. In addition, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandated that 95% of students with disabilities take the same state standardized tests as their general education peers. The Every Student Succeeds Act, adopted in 2015, maintains this requirement, although it leaves it up to individual states to determine the consequences for schools that do not meet the requirement.

...