TEN KEY INDICATORS TO REVIEW SCHOOL BOARD ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMPLIANCE BY THE SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEES

1. The school board has an exemplary special education plan to provide appropriate special education programs and services to and meet the needs of all its exceptional students.

Indicators include:

The school board’s special education plan:

complies with the Ministry of Education’s Standards for School Boards’ Special Education Plans document (2000): i) in terms of its components, the process of development and SEAC participation;

describes the actual special education program and service delivery within the board’s jurisdiction and is accessible to the community.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to the special education plan:

2. The school board carries out IPRCs in accordance with Regulation 181/98.

Indicators include:

IPRCs are available to parents in accordance with the procedures contained in the Regulation, i.e., when the parent requests one in writing;

IPRC procedures comply with the Regulation with respect to:

communication with the parents, including both pre- and post IPRC communication requirements;

timelines for making the referral and for notifying the parent about this;

requesting any consents that are needed for assessments or the sharing of information;

notifying the parents about the time and location of the meeting;

ensuring that the parent has a copy of the school board’s parents’ guide in advance of the meeting;

ensuring that the parent has all the information that is provided to the members of the IPRC in advance of the meeting, including but not limited to all assessment results;

allowing discussion of and recommendations related to special education programming and services;

determining the identification and placement of the student based on the student’s needs and parental wishes;

parents are not in any way pressured to waive their right to an annual review.

The SEAC is informed of the number of special education appeals and tribunals that parents have requested within the jurisdiction of the board and of their outcomes.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to IPRCs:

3. The school board considers and uses all exceptionality definitions in accordance with Ministry directions.

Indicators include:

The exceptionality definitions are included in the school board’s parents’ guide to special education;

The school board’s special education plan describes special education placement, program and service provisions for all exceptionalities;

The school board differentiates between the exceptionality definitions for identification purposes and the ISA profile descriptors it has used for funding;

The exceptionality definitions are appropriately utilized together with a description of strengths and needs in the development, implementation and evaluation of IEPs;

Parents are not pressured to waive the utilization of exceptionality definitions on the grounds that the student can have an IEP without this;

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to the use of exceptionality definitions:

4. The school board provides a full range of special education placements to meet the needs of its exceptional students.

Indicators include:

The school board provides realistic options for special education placement at all levels of intervention and at all grade levels, which reflect the needs of students with all categories of exceptionality and take into consideration parental wishes;

The Board’s parents’ guide includes a description of the full range of placements it provides, including self-contained exceptionality-specific classes in accordance with Regulation 298 Section 31, as well as referrals to the Provincial and Demonstration Schools for students who may need such an option;

SEAC is informed about the locations of special education programs and placements and receives

SEAC receives the annual October report which describes the numbers of exceptional students and their placement within the school board’s special education services;

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to special education placements:

5. The school board meets its mandated obligations for the development of IEPs in accordance with the Ministry of Education’s Standards for Individual Educational Plans for Exceptional Students (2000) and the new IEP resource Guide released in 2004.

Indicators include:

All students entitled to have an IEP have one developed within 30 school days of the start of their special education placement;

All IEPs are developed in co-operation with the parents and/or the student;

All IEPs contain the components described in the Ministry’s IEP Standards document, including the student’s strengths, needs, accommodations, differentiated teaching and learning requirements, etc.

All IEPs include a statement about what is considered adequate and appropriate educational and/or behavioural progress for the student for modified or alternative curriculum;

All IEPs are evaluated regularly in co-operation with the parent and amended, if appropriate.

The school board has an evaluation process for implementation of IEPs and the results of that evaluation process are reported regularly to SEAC;

The school board has a process for professional development for all teachers on how to develop and implement IEPs for all exceptional students;

All IEPs for students who are over 14 years of age and whose primary exceptionality is not gifted include an appropriate transition plan.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to IEPs:

6. The school board meets its mandate fully for the allocation and utilization of special education funding for the benefit of its exceptional students.

Indicators include:

The school board involves the SEAC in its budget process.

The school board allocates its full special education transfer amount to serving special education students.

The school board focuses on meeting the needs of and allocating funds appropriately to all exceptional students, not just those whom it deemed ISA eligible.

The school board does not utilize its SEPPA dollars for “topping up” its ISA allocation or for other educational areas, such as the provision of remedial help for students who are not identified through an IPRC.

The school board utilizes the ISA Level One process appropriately for meeting exceptional students’ assistive technology needs, including the provision of the requisite training to students and teachers.

The members of SEAC are informed about the amount of funds that the school board had placed in reserve from its special education allocation during the past years, how much money the school board is going to be able to retain from those reserve funds and how much is to be submitted to the Effectiveness and Equity Fund.

The school board has discussed with the SEAC its plans for applying for some additional funds from the Effectiveness and Equity Fund to meet formerly unmet needs.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to special education funding and its involvement of the SEAC in this:

7. The school board provides access to appropriate and timely assessments for all students who need to be assessed within the educational system, in accordance with Ministry directions and related legislation including the Health Care Consent Act, 1996, and the Regulated Health Care Professions Act, 1993.

Indicators include:

The school board provides appropriate and timely assessments for all students who need updated assessments in order to receive an appropriate special education program and accommodations, and not just for those who were likely to be deemed ISA eligible.

The school board has no waiting list for professional assessments.

The SEAC is informed about the number of assessments carried out by school board personnel each year and how many of these were for ISA files, for IPRCs or for any other relevant purposes

Assessments are always carried out by appropriately qualified professionals.

If secondary students require an assessment for the purposes of appropriate transition, such assessments are available to them.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to assessments:

  1. The school board ensures that all teachers are aware of how they can and should meet the needs of the exceptional students within their classroom by differentiating their teaching approaches, providing accommodations as required and teaching to the learning strengths of all students.

Indicators include:

The school board provides appropriate special education related professional development opportunities to all teachers.

The school board includes SEAC in the provision of professional development to teachers.

The school board provides support to teachers who face difficulties in teaching exceptional students, developing and implementing IEPs, and providing all the required accommodations to special education students.

The school board ensures that all teachers understand the importance of assistive technology for students with disabilities and can support the use of technology by their students.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to the professional development of teachers:

  1. In addition to satisfying the legally mandated requirements contained in the Education Act, the Regulations under the Act and the Human Rights Code, the school board focuses on the quality of learning and educational outcomes provided to and attained by every student including those who are exceptional, such that all students follow the Provincial curriculum to the maximum extent possible.

Indicators include:

The school board ensures that all teachers, students, parents and the community at large are aware that measurable student progress is one of the most important outcomes for the board;

The school board meets its obligations for the provision of literacy and numeracy programming for all students;

The school board tracks and reports to SEAC on the participation levels, exemptions, deferrals and achievement of its exceptional students in all the EQAO testing;

The school board involves SEAC in determining how to assist exceptional students who are doing poorly in or who are exempted from the EQAO testing.

The school board provides all the available locally developed courses to those students for whom this is the most appropriate option;

The school board ensures that the Grade 12 literacy course is available to all students who have not passed the Grade 10 literacy test;

The school board has determined and has publicized its definition of adequate annual progress for all students including exceptional students;

Exceptional students have access to secondary school courses at all levels of difficulty and are not streamed into locally developed courses in lieu of the provision of special education programming and/or accommodations.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to student success and progress:

  1. The school board demonstrably values the contribution of SEAC

Indicators include:

The school board complies with all its mandates under Regulation 464/98, including:

the process of appointing SEAC reps and their alternates,

providing orientation and training to its SEAC reps, including using the Ministry’s electronic training program,

ensuring that SEAC meets regularly, sets its own agenda, receives the agenda and minutes of the past meeting in a timely manner,

involving SEAC in the development of the special education plan and taking into account SEAC’s comments and any minority reports,

involving SEAC in the budget process and all relevant financial discussions,

providing the October report and other relevant information to SEAC in a timely manner,

providing SEAC with the opportunity to carry out its advisory mandate by consulting it and providing it with adequate opportunities to meet the members of the school board.

The school board provides regular and timely information to the SEAC on all matters related to the development and delivery of special education programs and services within the board’s jurisdiction;

The school board involves the SEAC in a meaningful way in discussions regarding the way special education students are treated under school board policies such as the safe schools and zero tolerance policies.

Please comment on your Board’s practices related to working with the SEAC:

Completed by:______from LDA ______

Please e-mail this completed questionnaire to: or fax to Diane Wagner at (416) 929-3905 or mail to her, c/o LDAO, 365 Bloor East, Box 39, Suite 1004, Toronto, ONM4W 3L4. Thank you.

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