1. EPSE 317 CLASS II

2. Shape of the Day

Provincial Special Education Policy.

What is an IEP and why does it matter?

IEP Demonstration

Assignment to Case Study Groups.

Distribution of Case Studies.

3. Policy

Set at all levels of education, Ministry, District, School, and to some extent your classroom

Ministry policy is subject to a range of interpretation from district to district, as is its implementation.

4. Special Education Policy in BC

The basic principle of inclusion:All students should have equitable access to learning, opportunities for achievement, and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of their educational programs.

All students should be fully participating members of the community of learners.

5.

Students with special needs should be in a classroom integrated with students who do not have special needs unless:

• • the educational needs of the student with special needs orother students (italics added)indicate that the educational program for the student with special needs should be provided otherwise.

6. Inclusion

Less about where students are placed than about how they fit into the context of education in general.

Special education in the inclusive model is situated within the goals and policies of education in general.

7. Mission Statement: BC Ministry of Education

The Mission of the Ministry of Education is to set the legal, financial, curricular and accountability frameworks so as toenable all learners to develop their individual potentialand to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous, sustainable economy.

8.

for students with special needs, meeting the provincial curriculum requirements is generally the part that involves extra support

not alwaysthere are behavioural and social issues as well

This is the stuff of Individual Education Plans (IEPs)

9. Planning

Under Law ( Individual Education Plan Order M638/95) , a school board must put an IEP for a student into place as soon as is practically possible after he or she has been identified as having special educational needs.

The IEP must be reviewed at least once per school year.

Parents (or guardians) must be offered the opportunity to offer input on the IEP.

10.

A school board must offer each student who has special needs learning activities in accordance with the IEP designed for that student. When services are so specialized that they cannot be replicated in every school, they should be available at the district level, or else school districts should arrange to obtain them from community or other sources.

11.

Lets talk about the implications of that last slide

12. Two Key Terms, both part of Accommodation, or Differentiation of Instruction:

Adaptation

Modification

13. Adaptation

Teaching and assessment strategies that enable a student to meet the provincially established learning outcomes of a subject or course.

Learning outcomes themselves are not changed from those of the students classmates or other students throughout the Province.

14. For Instance? 15. Provincial Learning Outcome for English Language Arts--KG

It is expected that students will:

• • Engage in speaking and listening activities to share ideas about pictures, stories, information text, and experiences

• • • Actively participate in classroom language activities by asking questions, predicting, expressing feelings, sharing ideas, and making personal connections

• • • .

• • • Listen and respond orally to language patterns in storied and poems (e.g. join in when teacher reads, repeat parts of a story, echo words and phrases, make up chants with the teacher, chime in during poems or read-alouds.

16. Evaluation

Students with adaptations to a course are graded on the same basis as any other student.

Mostly

Adaptations must be documented on a students IEP.

Their effectiveness should be evaluated regularly.

17. Modifications

Individualized learning goals and outcomes that differ from those established provincially for a course or subject.

The decision to modify should be made after adaptations are been tried, or

If a student is sufficiently disabled that it is apparent that he/she will not be able to meet grade or age-level expectations.

18. Modifications, contd

After Grade 10, modifications, particularly to an entire program, will have implications regarding the students completion of schooling.

Dogwood/School Completion Certificate

19. Modifications can:

Address simplified versions of learning outcomes:e.g. counting change in Grade 9 rather than algebra

Be the learning outcomes for a lower grade, or

Bypass learning outcomes for life skills

20. Modifications must:

Be identified in a students IEP

Be reflected in a report card, either as a grade or anecdotally

If a student on a modified program (either for one subject or all subjects) receives letter grades, his/her report card must state explicitly that the marks reflect achievement of IEP goals rather than standard provincial learning outcomes.

21. The IEP 22.

All students with adapted or modified programs must have an IEP

It is a record of those accommodations

It is a basis for evaluation of program efficacy

23. Who is involved in the IEP process?

By Law, parents or legal guardians

In some districts, a district integration teacher or resource room teacher prepares the document, in consultation with classroom teachers, parents and other stakeholders

Students should, at the very least, be consulted

24. IEPs must:

Identify students current level of function/ability

Provide information about previous assessments, both formal and informal

Identify long-term goals for students as well as more immediate goals and strategies

Identify who is responsible for meeting the goals (this shouldnotbe the student)

25.

Identify measurable, observable criteria by which to evaluate the students realization of goals.

Set time frames.

Be reviewed annually.

Parents must be provided with the opportunity to give input to IEP, but schools have final say.

26.

A students program should reflect his/her IEP

A students IEP should reflect his/her funding category.

27. Category ??? 28. Categorical Alphabet Soup

CODES CATEGORY TITLE

A Physically Dependent

B Deafblind

C Moderate to Profound Intellectual Disability

D Physical Disability or Chronic Health Impairment

E Visual Impairment

F Deaf or Hard of Hearing

G Autism Spectrum Disorder

H Intensive Behaviour Intervention/Serious Mental Illness

K Mild Intellectual Disability

P Gifted

Q Learning Disability

R Moderate Behaviour Support/Mental Illness

29. $$$

Categories are linked to supplementary funding provide to a district

They are intended to reflect the level of support required by students within the respective categories.

They are not targeted to the support of a specific student, but the identification of a student within a category brings the district a specified sum:

30. General Operating Grant

For the 2009-2010 school year, all children enrolled full-time in BC bring their district $5,851.

That money pays for almost all operations of the district.

There is supplementary funding for:

• ESL--$1,174

• Aboriginal--$1,014

• Special Needsnext slide, please

31. Three Levels of Supplementary Funding for Special Needs

Level 1:Physically Dependent, and Deaf-Blind--$32,000

Level 2:Moderate-Severe Intellectually Disabled,Deaf and Hearing Impaired, Visually Impaired,Physically Disabled or Chronic Health Impaired, and within the Autism Spectrum Disorder --$16,000

Level 3:Intensive Behaviour Support or Mental Illness--$8,000

32. And now, lets look at how all this works for a specific kid

Well call him Fred