KIRK
Head Start inpiration |
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| TUCSON, Arizona, July 21, 1996 -- A pioneer in special education for 50 years, Samuel A. Kirk, whose textbook Educating Exceptional Children was in its seventh edition, died July 21 of heart failure. He was 91.Kirk was remembered as a giant in the field. In 1962, President John Kennedy sent Kirk, along with a five-man task force, to the Soviet Union to study programs for mentally retarded children. In 1964, Kennedy appointed him the first director of the U.S. Division of Handicapped Children and Youth. Kirk's efforts with learning disabilities led to the 1969 Learning Disabilities Act that defined learning disabilities and provided funds to send handicapped children to public schools. In his research, he discovered that early education can increase intelligence, a discovery which led to the creation of Head Start, a federally funded program that provides educational, health and social services to impoverished preschoolers. Kirk held a doctorate in physiological and clinical psychology from the University of Michigan. He taught at the University of Arizona from 1968 to 1985. He was also a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. Kirk is survived by his wife, Winifred Day Kirk, a former speech and hearing professor at Arizona. |
