美國特殊教育立法及發展

1997年的特殊教育法修法，是我國特殊教育發展史上極為重要的里程碑，受美國特殊教育思潮影響甚鉅，其零拒絕、無障礙環境、融合教育的精神與理念，至今仍是特殊教育的主流。臺灣是大陸法系國家，以成文法為其特色，美國則是普通法系國家，以不成文法為其特色，案例法（case law）是普通法的重要法源，「前案拘束原則」（stare decisis）則是法院審理案件的重要原則。本文將簡要介紹美國的法律系統及法規彙編，並以美國身心障礙教育及資賦優異教育法案為例，介紹其修法沿革與部分內涵說明。惟有瞭解美國法案修法沿革及詳閱全文，才能全面性瞭解美國特殊教育法案的內涵，以供借鏡參考。

關鍵字

特殊教育法；身心障礙者教育法案；資優兒童教育法案；不讓任何一位孩子落後法案；普通法系

並列摘要

An amendment to＂ the Special Education Act of 1997＂ was an important milestone in the history of Special Education development in Taiwan. Until now, the main stream of special education in Taiwan was influenced by the trend of thought in U.S. special education, the spirit and idea of zero reject, a less restrictive environment, and an inclusive education. Taiwan is a civil law system with statutory law. The United States is a common law system with unwritten law. Case law is the major law source of common law. However, doctrine stare decisis is an important principle of court cases. This article will briefly describe the U.S. legal system and codification, some laws of disabilities education, gifted and talented American education, examples to describe its evolution of amending the law, and some connotation instructions. It could be a good reference to understand the evolution of such act amendments and to read the full texts, which may provide a comprehensive understanding of the connotation of special education in the U.S.