Introduction
Background
The Ministry of Education and Training has established an award
for exemplary practice in integration. This award recognizes exemplary
educational programs or strategies that integrate students with
exceptionalities into the regular classrooms and daily life of Ontario schools.
This initiative is in keeping with the ministry's policy that integration of
students with exceptionalities should be the normal practice in Ontario
schools.
Nominations for awards were made by a wide variety of interested
individuals and groups, including educators, speech/language pathologists,
parents, parent and community associations, correctional and treatment
facilities, and day-care centres. Decisions on granting awards were made by the
Exemplary Practice in Integration Awards panel established by the Ministry of
Education and Training. Decisions were based on the letter of nomination,
information provided by the nominated party, and letters of reference. When
necessary, additional information on the nominated program was sought. The
panel's recommendations were validated by the regional offices of the ministry.
Award recipients have been selected at all levels of public education and have
been provided with a certificate from the Ministry of Education and
Training.
Criteria for Awards
Programs that won an award met a large number of the following
criteria:
- Students are integrated in the regular classroom for most of
their program.
- The regular classroom teacher has the primary educational
responsibility for all students in the classroom.
- Special education support staff work in the regular classroom
with students and regular classroom teachers.
- Parents have the opportunity to be closely involved with
their children's educational program.
- Integrated students are members of the local community.
- A peer support system is in place.
- Integrated students are included beyond the individual
classroom level.
- Academic and social progress for all students is a constant
focus of the program or strategy.
- Special education support staff work closely with regular
classroom teachers in planning and monitoring individual programs.
- Accommodations are in place to help all students meet the
learning outcomes for the course or program.
- A co-operative planning process based on individual student
needs is in place.
- A collaborative team that includes parents is in place, and
regular meetings of this team are held.
- Stake holders beyond the school are involved in the
integration program or strategy.
- In-service training and/or other professional support in the
area of integration is available to teaching and support staff.
- Human and financial resources are made available to the
integration program at a reasonable level.
- School staff share a common educational philosophy supportive
of integration.
- School administrators are supportive of the integration
program.
Honourable mention certificates were granted to schools and
boards in which an outstanding teacher was nominated and to schools and boards
that met fewer of the criteria but whose efforts and achievements in
integrating exceptional students merited recognition.
Assistance to Schools and Boards
The purpose of this publication is to make information available
about the various excellent approaches to integration demonstrated by these
schools and school boards across Ontario. The short descriptions of
award-winning programs are intended to offer some ideas and guidance to others
in their efforts to increase integrated educational opportunities for Ontario
students.
Award winners are willing to provide further information on
their programs, strategies, and activities, and are willing to assist others
by:
- hosting visitors;
- participating in in-service meetings beyond their own
schools;
- providing mentorship opportunities;
- maintaining public and professional awareness of their
integration programs.
For further information on any program, please contact the
school or school board directly.
Historique
Le ministère de l'Éducation et de la Formation a
créé les prix d'excellence en intégration pour souligner
les stratégies ou programmes exemplaires visant l'intégration des
élèves ayant des besoins particuliers aux classes ordinaires et
à la vie des écoles de l'Ontario. Le ministère
considère d'ailleurs que cette pratique devrait être courante.
Ce sont des personnes et des groupes de divers secteurs qui ont
proposé les candidatures. Il s'agissait, entre autres,
d'éducateurs, d'orthophonistes, de parents, d'associations
communautaires, de centres correctionnels et de garderies. Tous les paliers
d'enseignement étaient visés. Le choix des lauréats et
lauréates a été fait par un comité de
sélection institué par le ministère de l'Éducation
et de la Formation. Ce comité prenait ses décisions en se fondant
sur une lettre de mise en candidature, sur des renseignements se rapportant au
programme, ainsi que sur des lettres de recommandation. Au besoin, il cherchait
à obtenir d'autres renseignements sur le programme en question. Les
recommandations du jury étaient validées par les bureaux
régionaux du ministère. Les responsables d'un programme dont la
candidature a été retenue ont reçu un certificat du
ministère de l'Éducation et de la Formation.
Caractéristiques des
programmes primés
Les programmes primés présentaient bon nombre des
caractéristiques suivantes :
- Les élèves sont intégrés dans les
classes ordinaires pendant la plus grande partie de leur programme.
- L'enseignante ou l'enseignant affecté à la
classe ordinaire est responsable de l'éducation de l'ensemble de ses
élèves.
- Le personnel chargé d'appuyer l'enseignement aux
élèves en difficulté travaille dans les classes ordinaires
en compagnie des élèves et des enseignantes et enseignants.
- Les parents peuvent participer étroitement au
programme éducatif de leurs enfants.
- Les élèves intégrés participent
à la vie de la communauté locale.
- Il existe un système où les
élèves obtiennent l'appui de leurs camarades.
- L'intégration des élèves dépasse
le cadre de la classe.
- La stratégie ou le programme se concentre constamment
sur le progrès scolaire et social des élèves.
- Le personnel chargé d'appuyer l'enseignement aux
élèves en difficulté collabore avec les enseignantes et
enseignants à la planification et au suivi de chaque programme.
- Tout a été fait pour permettre à
l'ensemble des élèves d'atteindre les résultats
d'apprentissage du cours ou du programme.
- Il existe un processus de planification en commun
fondé sur les besoins de chaque élève.
- Une équipe, composée entre autres de parents,
se réunit régulièrement.
- Les personnes et groupes intéressés de
l'extérieur de l'école participent à la stratégie
ou au programme d'intégration.
- Le personnel enseignant et d'appoint a accès à
une formation en cours d'emploi et à d'autres services de
perfectionnement professionnel dans le domaine de l'intégration.
- Le programme d'intégration reçoit un niveau
raisonnable de ressources humaines et financières.
- Les membres du personnel de l'école partagent une
philosophie de l'éducation favorisant l'intégration.
- Le personnel administratif appuie le programme
d'intégration.
Des certificats de mention honorable ont été remis
aux écoles et conseils au sein desquels une enseignante ou un enseignant
exceptionnel a été mis en candidature, ainsi qu'aux écoles
et conseils dont le programme d'intégration ne satisfaisait qu'à
un certain nombre de caractéristiques, mais dont les efforts et les
réalisations méritaient d'être reconnus.
Suggestions aux écoles et aux
conseils
L'objectif de cette publication est de faire connaître les
excellentes méthodes d'intégration des élèves ayant
des besoins particuliers que ces écoles et conseils ont mis en pratique
en Ontario. Les autres écoles et conseils qui souhaitent créer
des programmes d'intégration trouveront des idées et des
façons de procéder dans les brèves descriptions des
programmes primés.
Les gagnants acceptent de donner des renseignements sur leurs
programmes et stratégies et doivent :
- accueillir des visiteuses et visiteurs;
- participer à des rencontres axées sur la
formation en cours d'emploi de personnes ne relevant pas de leur
compétence;
- offrir des occasions de mentorat; et
- tenir le public et les associations professionnelles au
courant de leurs programmes d'intégration.
Pour de plus amples renseignements sur tout programme, veuillez
contacter l'école ou le conseil scolaire directement.
For reasons of space the following acronyms have been used:
| Regional offices |
CORO
EORO
MNORO
NEORO
NWORO
WORO |
Central Ontario Regional Office
Eastern Ontario Regional
Office
Midnorthern Ontario Regional Office
Northeastern Ontario Regional
Office
Northwestern Ontario Regional Office
Western Ontario Regional
Office |
| Technical and
administrative terms |
ADD
ADHD
EA
ENS
ESL
IEP
IPRC
ISNC
JK
K
MAPS
OAC
OSR
PDD
RCSB
RCSSB
SEAC
SERT
SK |
attention-deficit disorder
attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder
educational assistant
supplementary English
course
English as a second language
individual education
plan
Identification, Placement, and Review Committee
Integrated Services
for Northern Children
Junior Kindergarten
Kindergarten
mapping action
plans
Ontario Academic Course
Ontario Student Record
pervasive
developmental disability
Roman Catholic School Board
Roman Catholic
Separate School Board
special education advisory committee
special
education resource teacher
Senior Kindergarten |
Award Recipients/Prix d'excellence
English-Language Schools and Boards/
Conseils et écoles de langue anglaise
Alexander Reid Public School (JK-8)
128 Mary St
Arnprior ON
K7S 1E6
Mrs. Dagmar Stonehouse, Principal
(613) 623-2171
Renfrew County Board of Education
EORO
Exceptional students are integrated into regular classrooms in
this school, including students with developmental and physical disabilities,
communication and behaviour disorders, autism, spina bifida, Down's syndrome,
Tourette's syndrome, ADD, and cerebral palsy.
Teachers and educational assistants have regular opportunities
to attend in-service sessions focusing on exceptional needs. The staff read,
share, and discuss relevant articles, research papers, and newspaper items.
They have visited many other centres to gain ideas and understanding. They have
accompanied students and parents to team meetings at the hospital and have
visited the local children's treatment centre.
Ongoing communication has been established with the local
day-care centres. Other service providers meeting the needs of the students are
actively involved in programming, including community associations, public
health nurses, Home Care therapists, doctors, signing consultants, and
speech/language pathologists. Positive relationships with parents are perceived
as very important.
Exceptional students participate in all school activities,
including field trips and presentations. They are supported in all their
endeavours by other students. Additional assistance is provided by student
teachers, high school co-operative education students, parent volunteers, and
community college students.
The school staff provide a model for the integration of adults
with exceptionalities by inviting adults with developmental disabilities to
take part-time placements in the school setting.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Archie Stouffer Elementary School (K-8)
PO Box 370
Minden ON
K0M 2K0
Mr. Peter Forgrave, Principal
(705) 286-1921
Haliburton County Board of Education
CORO
This school, which serves a large rural area, has a total
integration program. Every student is assigned to a regular class. Eighteen per
cent of students have been identified as exceptional, including those who have
severe learning disabilities, Down's syndrome, hydrocephalus, or Arnold-Chiari
malformation, or who are hearing-impaired.
In the fall, the regular classroom teacher and the resource
teacher complete an IEP together. This is signed by the parent. Modifications
to the regular program are implemented by the classroom teacher, supported by
the resource teacher and personnel from health agencies, provincial schools,
family counselling services, etc. Resource teachers also work in the classroom
with individuals and small groups, and complete diagnostic testing.
There are regular team meetings, involving the special education
resource teachers, the guidance teacher, an administrator, and the classroom
teacher, to discuss issues relating to particular students. The outcome of
these meetings is a specific plan of action and the scheduling of follow-up
meetings, if necessary.
There is a fairly extensive peer helper program, in which the
guidance teacher provides training for students who have passed the application
interview. In the case of a hearing-impaired student, there is also peer
support by classmates who have learned sign language. Support technology, such
as computers, spell checkers, and augmentative devices, is also available.
Children who have unsettled family situations may receive
individual or group counselling from the guidance teacher or a community agency
that works in the school. This service can then extend outside the school to
the entire family, if desired.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ardtrea/Cumberland Beach Public School (JK-8)
RR 3
Orillia ON
L3V 6H3
Ms. S. Elizabeth Thomas, Principal
(705) 327-1321
Simcoe County Board of Education
CORO
This is a twinned school serving approximately 370 students, of
whom 20 have been identified as exceptional, including students with Down's
syndrome.
Some exceptional students are registered in special education
classes and are integrated into regular classes when it is deemed appropriate
by their teachers. Others are fully integrated in regular classrooms, with
program support provided.
Professionals from community agencies work as partners with
regular and special education teachers, educational assistants, administrators,
and parents to develop programs, adapt existing programs, and provide or
recommend equipment to facilitate the students' participation in all aspects of
school life.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Assikinack Public School (K-8)
226 Little Av
Barrie ON
L4N 6L3
Mr. Gary Letcher, Principal
(705) 726-4256
Simcoe County Board of Education
CORO
Most exceptional students are integrated into regular classes
for most of the day. Each exceptional student is on the class list of a regular
classroom teacher. Responsibility for each student's program is held by a team
of regular classroom teachers, educational assistants, and special education
teachers. Additional support is provided by learning buddies, reading buddies,
"peace keepers", and students in other informal peer support programs.
Exceptional students participate in choirs, house leagues, electives, clubs,
field trips, outdoor education, social events, and other out-of-class
activities. A special-needs committee meets to discuss individual students'
programs and involves parents in these discussions. Parents also participate in
determining their children's needs, and in establishing, reviewing, and
modifying strategies for success. A variety of approaches is used. In some
cases, the modifications to the regular program are extensive and including
setting up a parallel program.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balmoral Senior Public School (6-8)
233 Balmoral Drive
Brampton ON
L6T 1V5
Mr. Dave K. Thomas, Principal
(905) 793-6070
Peel Board of Education
CORO
A multidisciplinary approach strengthens the integrated
programming for all identified exceptional students in this school, including
students who are gifted and others who have Tourette's syndrome. Parental
involvement is encouraged, and parents are invited into classrooms for
observation and collaboration. The IEPs are developed in consultation with
parents, students, and teaching staff. Additional support is provided by
teaching assistants.
There is a full partnership between special education and
regular classroom teachers in the planning, implementation, evaluation, and
assessment of programs. Many programs are in place, differing in their delivery
according to student needs. The special education teacher and the regular
teacher work in the classroom together. The special education teacher also
provides direct instruction, individually or in small groups.
The school staff are set up in grade-level teams who meet at
least once in a six-day cycle. All teachers in the team have input regarding
programming and all aspects of school life for their students. Staff work with
the Guidance Department in supporting a peer tutor system. Teacher-student
mentoring, student-at-risk monitoring, and teacher-teacher mentoring create an
interconnected learning environment.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Birchbank Public School (JK-5)
52 Birchbank Rd
Bramalea ON
L6T 1L7
Mrs. Donna Kinch, Principal
(905) 793-7984
Peel Board of Education
CORO
This elementary school has mainstreamed exceptional students,
including those with developmental disabilities, muscular dystrophy,
quadriplegia, spina bifida, and hydrocephalus.
Parents are contacted through notes and phone calls on an
ongoing basis. The IEPs are developed by the regular classroom teacher and an
itinerant teacher who visits approximately once each month and provides
appropriate resources. Relevant professional staff from Home Care provide
physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and advice. Additional support is provided
by teaching assistants.
Programs have been modified so that the exceptional students are
working on activities similar to those of their peers, but at their own rate or
achievement level. A variety of special equipment and assistive devices is
available in the classrooms, including a computer. Because the exceptional
students join their peers on all class outings, advance planning is essential
to ensure appropriate accommodation.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bishop Reding Secondary School (sec.)
1600 Main St E
Milton ON
L9T 4B6
Mr. Onnig Pilibossian, Principal
(905) 875-0124
Halton RCSSB
CORO
To capitalize on the strengths of the Community Living Centre
and the resource program, this staff integrated the two programs and moved them
into a common setting.
In the Reading Tutor Program, senior students who are being
taught the theory of reading and writing work with students with developmental
disabilities to help them improve their social skills, their academic skills,
and their skills in using augmentative devices in communication.
Exceptional students are included in regular classroom
activities. Background information on the exceptional student is provided to
the regular classroom teacher and also to the students in the regular class.
This encourages a sense of involvement and commitment. A special education
assistant helps transfer the practical, social, and academic support to the
classroom. Once this is accomplished, the services of the EA are no longer
needed on a regular basis.
Some curriculum areas include a disabilities awareness aspect in
their units of study; for example, such an aspect is part of the Grade 12
religion curriculum; and involves guest speakers, presentations, simulations,
and audio-visual presentations. As part of the community service component of
the OAC religion course, students often volunteer to befriend and work with a
student with special needs. The parenting course also has a unit of study
devoted to students with special needs. Co-operative education students are
often placed with the Special Education Department to assist students socially
within the school and in extracurricular activities such as swim and
cross-country teams, and dances.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bruce County Board of Education
PO Box 190
351 1st Av N
Chesley ON
N0G
1L0
Mr. Bevan McNeil, Supervisor of Student Services
(519)
396-3655
WORO
The TRAIL program – To Realize Advanced Independent
Learning – is designed to serve the needs of identified gifted students in
Grades 4 to 8, primarily within the regular classroom setting. Enrichment
projects, curriculum modification, curriculum compacting, and acceleration are
employed, depending on the individual student.
In addition, each identified student receives some segregated
enrichment based on the following model:
- individual and/or small group sessions within the home school
for forty minutes every two weeks
- area day sessions based on similar grade levels from a local
group of schools – three times per school year in Grades 5 and 6, four
times per school year in Grades 7 and 8
- two-day residential sessions based on county-wide grade level
groupings – two per school year in Grades 5 and 6, one per school year in
Grades 4, 7, and 8
The total time in segregated enrichment is forty-five hours per
school year. All other work is accomplished through the regular classroom
setting.
Two county-based specialized teachers are employed to support
the program. They liaise with, and act as a resource for, local school resource
teachers and regular classroom teachers.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C. H. Norton Public School (K-8)
2120 Cleaver Av
Burlington ON
L7L 1R2
Mr. Ron Beckett, Principal
(905) 332-3897
Halton Board of Education
CORO
Programming at this school is focused on the concept of multiple
intelligences. The staff asks not "How smart are you?" but "How are you smart?"
With this approach, the school has integrated exceptional students with ADHD,
learning disabilities, Down's syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, spina bifida, or
Tourette's syndrome.
The special education resource team is a child advocacy network
that focuses on developing the positive attributes of children, particularly of
children who have difficulties in learning. Support is always available, but
independence with collaboration through a network of similar-aged peers is the
goal.
The resource team meets weekly to plan the goals for the week.
Every six school days, this team meets with instructional assistants to review
these plans, as well as concerns, issues, and successes, and to provide ongoing
training to help the instructional assistants continue to expand their
repertoire of instructional skills. On the last Monday of each month, the
school resource team meets to discuss the resolution of difficult situations,
review student progress, and plan new strategies to help students succeed.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cardinal Newman Catholic Secondary School (sec.)
33 Cromwell Crescent
Hamilton ON
L8G 2E9
Mr. John Valvasori, Principal
(905) 560-3333
Hamilton-Wentworth RCSSB
CORO
This school of 1,460 students integrates approximately 25
students with special needs into regular classes. Only one or two exceptional
students are placed in each regular class, often at the advanced or general
level. The exceptional students are served, on two campuses, by four special
education resource teachers and 8.5 educational assistants. Through the school
attendance policy and in-school resource team there is a focus on early
intervention.
Students who are exhibiting socially inappropriate behaviour are
assisted through co-operation among various school departments, and through an
extension of the school called the Eastgate Partnership Centre. Here students
continue their academic progress through the accumulation of credits while they
work on individualized programs to help them learn to manage their behaviour
appropriately.
Parents are key partners, and are involved in MAPS processes,
meetings on goals and objectives, and IEP meetings each semester in which
academic and social goals are determined. Other important partners are the
Industrial Education Council, the Association for Community Living and other
community associations, Recreation Integration Hamilton, physiotherapists and
occupational therapists, physicians, the March of Dimes, Mohawk College, and
the parent council.
When students reach the age of sixteen, work experience begins
with the assistance of a job coach. Time spent in work experience is increased
yearly until school leaving. The goal is to prepare these students to take
adult education after secondary school, to work as volunteers, or to work for
wages.
The school staff are currently piloting three new programs:
- a screening procedure for gifted/talented students
- an adult education/leisure program for exceptional students
who have graduated from the school
- a program to increase peer involvement and support in the
classroom and in the school community
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cardinal Newman High School (sec.)
2675 Kingston Rd
Scarborough ON
M1M 1M2
Mr. Tim Lee, Principal
(416) 393-5519
Metropolitan Separate School Board
CORO
Identified exceptional students with developmental disabilities
are integrated into regular classrooms for the majority of their classes,
though they may be withdrawn for individual assistance in the resource room.
Exceptional students are also involved in the school newspaper, play, talent
night, and band.
Highlights of the program include the following:
- involvement in co-operative education programs
- ongoing meetings in which the classroom teacher and special
education teacher collaborate in diagnosing needs, designing programs, and
evaluating success
- parental involvement in all phases of educational
planning
- regular review and modification of each student's IEP
- involvement of educational assistants who attend to the
students' physical needs and assist with academic support, and are included in
the planning process
- provision of peer counsellors and tutors who act as role
models and friends
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Carleton Board of Education
133 Greenbank Rd
Nepean ON
K2H 6L3
Ms. Tina Olmstead, Teacher of the Hearing-Impaired
(613)
721-1820
EORO
A program of integration support services for hearing-impaired
students is conducted by itinerant teachers of the hearing-impaired who visit
the schools and work individually with students with hearing losses ranging
from mild to profound.
The program consists of:
- student support in subject materials, language development,
speech development, vocabulary building, and social skills development;
- suggestions and innovations for classroom teachers;
- parent education and assistance;
- support of technology as applied to the classroom
situation.
Early each school year, the itinerant teachers prepare and
conduct a one-day workshop for classroom teachers to introduce them to the
special needs of hearing-impaired students, and to provide innovative solutions
for effective communication to ensure that these students have equal
opportunities to learn the subject material. Throughout the year, the itinerant
teachers of the hearing-impaired assist classroom teachers in integrating the
students as fully as possible, while ensuring that the student receives and
understands the material being taught.
The itinerant teachers have prepared a presentation entitled
"All Aboard! the Carleton Board Express . . . a trip to success in the
Mainstream", which describes the journey a student takes from embarking in the
school system through to graduation.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cathcart Boulevard School (JK-8)
1219 Cathcart Blvd
Sarnia ON
N7S 2H7
Mr. Jim Boyes, Principal
(519) 542-5651
Lambton County Board of Education
WORO
This large elementary school, with a French-immersion stream,
has integrated about forty exceptional students who have been identified as
having disabilities and/or are gifted. Integration involves every aspect of
school life, including drama, choir, chess club, sports, band, French
improvisation, and crafts.
Members of the school team share the responsibility for
planning, implementing, and evaluating each student's program. Regular team
meetings include school and school board personnel, Home Care workers, and
parents. The regular classroom teacher has primary educational responsibility
for the exceptional students.
A large team of volunteers reports daily to a central location
for schedules, name tags, and student plans. Volunteers are carefully matched
with students to make the most effective use of their individual skills and
talents. The resource team provides the volunteers with in-service training
regarding the needs of specific children, and appropriate strategies to use.
The resource team also provides formal and informal in-service
training for parents, such as Reading with the Troubled Reader, and to
teachers, such as workshops on learning disabilities, depression, ADHD, and
conflict resolution.
Enrichment activities are available in the regular classroom
program for students who have been identified as gifted. Each teacher involved
has the opportunity to work with this group of students, in a program
co-ordinated by the resource team.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapel Hill Catholic School (JK-6)
34 Forest Valley Drive
Orleans ON
K1C 6G9
Ms. G. Kenny-Castonguay, Principal
(613) 837-3773
Carleton RCSB
EORO
Students with special needs spend all or most of their day in
regular classrooms with age-appropriate peers. The co-operative planning
process begins in September, when meetings are held to establish goals. These
meetings involve the principal, resource teacher, classroom teacher, parents,
and, where necessary, consultants, speech pathologists, occupational
therapists, support staff, and others. The IEP specifies program modifications
and teaching strategies. These modifications may affect the content and the
organization of the material presented. Teaching strategies include a
multisensory teaching approach and an evaluation process that may include the
use of portfolios, tape-recorded answers, and samples of daily work. The IEP
serves as a supplementary report card and is updated every term.
Contact with parents is ongoing through regular home-school
communication via telephone calls, communication book entries, and regularly
scheduled meetings.
There is an extensive in-service training program for teachers,
which has included ministry courses, and there are programs focusing on
conflict resolution, assessment strategies, co-operative learning, discipline,
and leadership training.
Other valuable assistance includes the support of volunteers
from the community, trained by the resource teacher; the use of computers; and
a peer support group of students who volunteer to act as playmates or to
monitor a particular student's activities to ensure constant supervision at
recess and at lunch. Within the classroom, a buddy system is in place. Beyond
the classroom, sports activities and choir membership also include students
with special needs.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chief Dan George Public School (JK-8)
185 Generation Blvd
Scarborough ON
M1G 2S4
Mr. Larry Barton, Principal
(416) 396-6150
Scarborough Board of Education
CORO
All exceptional students, including those who have learning and
physical disabilities, are fully integrated into regular classrooms. Their
needs are addressed through a "co-teaching, partnership" model. The special
education teachers and educational assistants work in the regular classroom
along with the classroom teachers, and students are withdrawn only for
individual counselling or for Reading Recovery instruction. Co-teaching
partners meet a minimum of once per week to plan the curriculum and monitor
progress. Division meetings are scheduled on a monthly basis.
Additional support is provided by educational assistants;
parent, grandparent, and community volunteers; and university and high school
co-operative education students. Peer coaching is used effectively with
students in all classrooms. Each class in the school is partnered with another
class at a different age level, and the pairs meet regularly for various
activities.
Students within these classes are buddied. The exceptional
students participate in all activities, such as gymnastics, trips (including
overnight excursions), sports, clubs, choirs, drama, and special days.
Each student's program includes both a social and an academic
focus. Any concerns are dealt with by both regular education staff and support
staff, and there is a multidisciplinary team which meets monthly and whose
members can be called in for advice and consultation. This team includes
professionals from community agencies and associations. When an exceptional
student is integrated into a classroom, the receiving class is prepared, if
necessary, before the student arrives. This may be through an informal talk, a
presentation on a particular disability, or any other recommended
intervention.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Collegiate Avenue Public School (K-8)
49 Collegiate Av
Stoney Creek ON
L8G 3L5
Mr. Peter Greenberg, Principal
(905) 662-2990
Wentworth County Board of Education
CORO
This school of approximately 330 students integrates exceptional
students through the collaboration of the learning centre, resource program,
and regular classroom teachers.
Exceptional students remain within their regular class while
receiving direct specialized instruction in academic areas. Support is provided
by resource staff, educational assistants, and parent volunteers. Educational
assistants help small groups and individuals both in the classroom during
rotary subjects and in the learning centre, and review concepts, devise study
strategies, create reinforcement learning materials, and track student
progress. Each educational assistant also works co-operatively with the special
education team and the classroom teacher to plan and deliver the students'
individualized programs. Some withdrawal instruction is provided if necessary.
A replacement language arts program is provided in the learning centre for
students with reading skills at least two years below grade level; it usually
occupies 15 to 20 per cent of the school day.
Both staff members and parents have been included in the review,
development, and implementation stages of the integration procedure in an
effort to develop a sense of involvement, responsibility, and accountability
for decisions. Teachers from each division and the principal meet every month
to discuss programs, individual student progress, and learning needs.
As a result of the annual IPRC review, an IEP is developed which
is updated regularly with comments and with new short-term goals. Parents are
an important part of the review process. The school has set up a series of
school-based parenting courses for families of exceptionally challenging
children.
A detailed Early Identification Program has been developed which
includes initial student contacts and follow-up initiation and observations by
teachers, and monitoring of at-risk students by the principal.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Collingwood Collegiate Institute (sec.)
6 Cameron St
Collingwood ON
L9Y 2J2
Mr. Paul A. Macallum, Principal
(705) 445-3161
Simcoe County Board of Education
CORO
This school integrates approximately eighty exceptional
students, including those with physical or intellectual disabilities and/or
behaviour disorders.
The transition to secondary school begins with June visits from
special education staff to the elementary feeder schools to meet students and
teachers, and to attend end-of-year IPRC reviews with parents. Lists of student
strengths and weaknesses are compiled so that no time is lost in providing
appropriate programs and contacts, e.g., subject teachers of at-risk students.
Through this reverse approach, students receive support early in the year,
without having to request it. Special education staff also provide an anecdotal
review of former years' program plans and a plan for a current IEP, including
suggestions and/or modifications. Visits to the secondary school are arranged
and students are given lockers prior to school beginning, so that the normal
chaos of the first week is alleviated to some extent.
Exceptional students are integrated into regular classes, and
educational assistants are assigned to classes as necessary. In courses with
health and safety aspects, such as food services and physical education,
support personnel are used extensively. In academic courses, educational
assistants are also assigned for purposes of behaviour modification and
personal and social development.
Exceptional students who are gifted have in-school time allotted
specifically to gifted programming, determined through regular conferences with
students, parents, and teachers.
Some students with profound disabilities are scheduled into
full-credit personal life management courses delivered through Special
Services, with a pupil-teacher ratio of eight or fewer to one. The focus of
these courses is behaviour modification and life skills.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Colonel By Secondary School (sec.)
2381 Ogilvie Rd
Gloucester ON
K1J 7N4
Mrs. Desirée Hincke, Special Education Department Head
(613) 745-9411
Carleton Board of Education
EORO
A plan was developed in conjunction with the principal, heads'
council, parents of special education students, and students themselves.
First, changes were made to course scheduling and the physical
surroundings. Innovations included a computer lab, the Special Education
Students' Association, a Grade 12 credit course in peer helping, a learning
enrichment service for gifted and bright students, and the development of a
special education teaching assistant's job description.
Currently, special education students choose their regular
course options in liaison with their parents, regular teachers, guidance
counsellors, and special education teachers. They also choose the amount of
support they need, in the form of one or more resource periods, or a monitoring
program. Parents and students are encouraged to visit the school in June or
late August. IEP goals are shared with students' subject teachers, both
formally, through progress sheets that go out four times a year, and
informally, through consultation among teachers. Special accommodations for
examinations and test-taking are available to all special education students,
as determined by their needs, e.g., extended time; use of a tape recorder,
scribe, or computer; special room arrangements. All special education students
are taught self-advocacy skills. Many take a co-operative education course,
which greatly assists them in their transition from school to work or
post-secondary education.
The plan has been extended for two more years, and the next step
is expected to be more formalized career planning, involving the student, the
parents, the school, and the community work force.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Coronation Public School (JK-SK)
96 Golden Av W
Timmins ON
P4N 3K5
Mr. D. Buchanan, Principal
(705) 264-0998
Timmins Board of Education
NEORO
This is an early childhood school with an enrolment of
approximately 300 students attending half-day programs. The school is on one
floor with accessible washrooms and gym. The activities in the gym are varied
and modified for the skills of each student.
The school admits students directly from homes, nursery schools,
day-care centres, and neighbourhood babysitting arrangements. Exceptional
students are fully integrated into regular classrooms. The staff observe,
record, and identify the difficulties students have with readiness tasks. A
modified approach is provided for students who have speech, language, and/or
physical disabilities.
Some of these students presented severe medical problems at
birth and have been involved with the Cochrane-Temiskaming Resource Centre's
infant stimulation program. The school works closely with this agency in
meeting prior to school entry to discuss needs, support, and modifications.
Consultation or treatment may be continued in the school setting, where the
school staff observe agency staff members at work and can incorporate various
lessons or techniques into the school program. There is a time arranged for
agency and school personnel to discuss mutual concerns and whether the
activities in place are still appropriate.
The special education resource teacher works with small groups
or individual students who are having difficulties with specific skills, such
as fine motor skills, or perceiving and reacting to the world of shapes. A
school monitor helps with toileting routines and a change area is maintained.
Discussions are held with the students at the beginning of the year about
communication difficulties, acceptable behaviour, and physical
disabilities.
Parents are encouraged to visit the classes to observe the
program and talk to teachers. They often volunteer time to help with school
projects and classroom tasks.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Corpus Christi Catholic Elementary School (JK-6)
157 Fourth Av
Ottawa ON
K1S 2L5
Mr. John W. Shaughnessy, Principal
(613) 232-9743
Ottawa RCSSB
EORO
This school integrates all exceptional pupils in regular classes
and provides the required assistance.
For example, one pupil is deaf, has Down's syndrome, and has to
be fed through a J-tube because of a digestive anomaly. A collaborative
approach has been successful in meeting her needs in the regular classroom. A
nurse visits the school daily to administer the feedings. A full-time
interpreter/teaching assistant assists with American Sign Language
communication and personal care. Additional support comes from parents,
administrators, a behavioural consultant, a nutritionist, an occupational
therapist, and an itinerant teacher of the deaf. The parents participate in all
team meetings, which occur on a regular basis.
The responsibility for the academic program is shared between
classroom teachers and the teacher of the deaf. These professionals meet
regularly to plan and evaluate progress. Students receive a daily sign-language
lesson, in addition to the incidental exposure to sign language they receive by
observing their exceptional peer and her interpreter/teaching assistant.
A Circle of Friends is beginning; students from this group
assist the exceptional student at recess and bus time, to promote independence
from the many adults involved. Several classes in the school have received
special information sessions to familiarize them with deafness, Down's
syndrome, and the specialized feeding technique.
The academic program includes weekly social language sessions
and the use of basic-level computer programs.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Danforth Collegiate & Technical Institute
(sec.)
800 Greenwood Av
Toronto ON
M4J 4B7
Mr. Robert J. Gooding, Principal
(416) 393-0620
Toronto Board of Education
CORO
Exceptional students have been integrated into mainstream
classes, including students who are gifted or deaf, those who require a section
27 placement (i.e., students in care, treatment, or correctional facilities),
and those who have physical disabilities, behaviour disorders, learning
disabilities, PDD, or intellectual disabilities.
In addition to supplying academic support, the school also
responds to students in need of breakfast programs, financial assistance, and
support from social workers, youth workers, and psychologists. With declining
resources, the school staff has developed partnerships with several community
agencies to maintain as many students as possible in a mainstream setting.
These collaborative pilot programs include:
- a tutoring program to address weak literacy skills, with
Frontier College;
- a program to develop more appropriate social skills for
exceptional students, with Integra Foundation;
- a program to assist students in dealing with substance abuse
issues, with the Donwood Institute.
Exceptional students are placed in destreamed Grade 9 classes
and special education supports are provided within the classroom. Special
education and classroom teachers have received training in team-teaching
techniques. A special education teacher is present, along with the subject
teacher, in every English and mathematics class. The subject teacher is
assisted by an educational assistant in approximately 30 per cent of the other
classes that make up the destreamed timetable. Special education teachers
monitor students' progress through ongoing communication with regular teachers.
Parents are involved in educational planning and decision making whenever
possible.
In cases where special needs are not adequately addressed in a
particular class, the student may be:
- withdrawn to the resource room for individualized
assistance;
- withdrawn to a small instructional group;
- assisted in substituting a more appropriate course.
The special education resource room, staffed by a special
education teacher and two educational assistants, also assists students who are
experiencing behavioural difficulties in their subject class. The staff assist
with conflict mediation and present strategies for successful reintegration
into class.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Don Bosco Secondary School (sec.)
2 St Andrews Blvd
Weston ON
M9R 1V8
Ms. Mary Ruth Bauer, Principal
(416) 393-5525
Metropolitan Separate School Board
CORO
Exceptional students are involved in all aspects of school life,
including physical education, music, drama, outdoor education, co-operative
education, and community involvement. A collaborative/inclusion model has been
adopted, with the regular and resource teachers working together, and the
exceptional students remaining in the regular classroom as much as possible.
Exceptional students receive their instruction in a regular
class and are withdrawn for individual remedial assistance in a resource room
when necessary. The resource teachers assist the subject teacher to ensure that
appropriate modifications are in place. Each resource teacher has a caseload of
students who have been identified as exceptional, and monitors their progress
through continual communication with their subject teachers and communications
with the students.
Strategies that have helped facilitate this educational approach
include the following:
- meetings with subject teachers
- a school-based support team
- peer tutoring
- pre-work experience in school
A climate of open communication has been developed with parents.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Doncrest Public School (JK-8)
124 Blackmore Av
Richmond Hill ON
L4B 2B1
Mrs. Sylvia Barnard, Principal
(905) 882-4480
York Region Board of Education
CORO
The social adjustment class program in this school, in which 75
per cent of the students speak English as a second language, is structured on
the reverse integration model, whereby the students spend as much time as
possible in the regular classroom with their peers. Either the teacher of the
class or the child/youth worker is available in the social adjustment
classroom, while the other is monitoring what is happening in the regular
classrooms where the exceptional students are integrated. Time spent in the
social adjustment class by identified students is focused on areas of need,
such as weak skill areas, or on strategies to encourage more appropriate
behavioural responses.
One of the criteria for admission to the class is the student's
willingness to be integrated. The teacher works collaboratively on program
planning and evaluation with the regular classroom teachers.
The social adjustment classroom is also used by regular students
as a quiet place to work, and when they are having difficulty with unstructured
time in the regular classroom.
The social adjustment teacher and the child/youth worker often
participate during in-school meetings when the behaviour of students is the
topic for discussion. This provides an opportunity for informal in-service
training.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dufferin-Peel RCSSB
40 Matheson Blvd W
Mississauga ON
L5R 1C5
Ms. Jean Staley, Teacher of the Hearing-Impaired
(905)
890-1221
CORO
Since 1983, this school board has developed full integration
programs for students from the time of diagnosis until secondary school
completion. The teachers of the deaf have tried to meet the needs of each
individual student so each can live and learn in the home community.
To address the criticism that deaf and hard-of-hearing students
do not get to meet other students like themselves, regular get-togethers are
held two or three times a year, one division at a time. Preschoolers and
families may go to a park or farm; Primary and Junior students will meet for
arts, crafts, sports, and meal preparation; secondary students come together to
try assistive devices and note-taking, to obtain information about
postsecondary opportunities, to engage in discussions with older
hearing-impaired individuals, and to discuss strategy building and self-esteem.
Every June, a picnic supper is held for all families. Parents of babies see how
older children are progressing. Classroom teachers are invited to a one-day
workshop before school starts in September. Individual in-service training
continues throughout the year.
The preschool program consists of three service-delivery
models:
- home visiting – weekly service in the home
- integrated preschool – a daily head-start program held
in day-care centres: in-service training is provided for day-care staff; the
school board provides transportation, materials, FM systems, acoustic treatment
in the therapy room, and an educational assistant; close co-operation is
maintained with clinical audiologists
- parent support
The elementary years (Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8) program
uses the classroom curriculum to develop auditory skills, speech, speech
reading, and language development, with the assistance of the teacher of the
deaf both in the classroom and in a withdrawal situation. FM systems are
provided and serviced. To lessen background noise in the classroom, movable
carpets are provided for most students; these carpets, which cover most of the
classroom floor, can easily be removed for cleaning and can be transferred to
another classroom when the student moves to the next class.
In the secondary years, support systems (note-takers, scribes,
computerized note-takers, tutors, alternative correspondence programs,
interpreters, decoders, etc.) must be put in place rapidly as needed. The
school board offers an Introduction to Sign Communication course for a Grade 10
credit. Withdrawal support and consultation with parents, teachers, and
audiologists continue.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Duke of Connaught School (JK-8)
70 Woodfield Rd
Toronto ON
M4L 2W6
Ms. Carolyn Harrop, Principal
(416) 393-9455
Toronto Board of Education
CORO
This school has an integrated project class of twenty-one Grade
7 students, of whom three have developmental disabilities and two have learning
disabilities. The exceptional students are integrated full-time in the regular
classroom. This integration project has been in place for the past six years.
The program is integrated in every aspect of school life.
Classroom programming ideas that support integration
include:
- group projects, in which exceptional students provide
illustrations;
- brainstorming, in which there is an expectation that all
students will contribute to the discussion, and all ideas are accepted;
- co-operative "jigsaw" activities, in which each student
becomes an expert in one piece of the puzzle and no one is left out;
- reading partnerships, which give one student the richness of
the story and language, while the other rehearses reading aloud;
- thinking skills, in which the teacher reinforces the concept
that there is more than one way to express oneself;
- a variety of hands-on materials and resources, such as
manipulatives, building structures, timelines, and graphics.
Special education staff are consultants to the program. The
regular classroom teacher has full responsibility for all aspects of the
program, including developing IEPs for all identified students.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dundas Public School (JK-5)
935 Dundas St E
Toronto ON
M4M 1R4
Mr. Kemp Rickett, Principal
(416) 393-9565
Toronto Board of Education
CORO
This inner-city, multicultural school fully integrates all its
exceptional students, including those with PDD. All classes are arranged in
family groupings to allow flexibility in dealing with students with different
academic and emotional needs. A child may spend up to three years with one
teacher. Additional support is provided by educational assistants.
All psychosocial assessments are made using the curriculum,
rather than standardized tests, and a meaningful IEP is developed through the
assessment and IPRC process. The program plan outlines ways in which the
curriculum can be modified by all those involved, including parents, teachers,
and professionals from community agencies.
The parent is an integral part of the school team process,
including the development and delivery of a program plan. An area has been set
aside in the school for parents who choose to eat lunch with their children.
They are also invited to work as volunteers in the school.
A variety of preventive strategies are used to ensure the
success of the integration experience, such as peer support and art therapy,
depending on the needs of the child. These strategies are supported by the
following programs:
- a student support program, which provides ongoing and
intensive support to exceptional students with social/emotional needs. It is
staffed by one teacher and an educational assistant
- a community outreach program, which co-ordinates and promotes
non-instructional programs in conjunction with other community agencies, e.g.,
nutritional and after-school activity programs
- a project facilitator, who supports the family groupings and
the full integration of all exceptional students
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dunnville Central School (JK-6)
121 Alder St W
Dunnville ON
N1A 1R2
Mr. Ron Speer, Principal
(905) 774-6033
Haldimand Board of Education
CORO
This school population includes exceptional students who have
physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and developmental disabilities.
All students are educated within the regular class and have access to a special
class if needed.
In the spring, special and general educators meet to discuss the
needs of students for the following September. Units are planned which address
the needs of all learners. Teachers meet regularly to co-plan lessons
throughout the year. Special educators and general educators deliver class
lessons as a team. Students may be withdrawn on a small-group or individual
basis if required. General and special educators conference daily about student
needs.
Assessment is completed jointly and reporting to parents through
report cards and conferences is done as a team.
The school involves the local Children's Aid Society, community
health support, and its parental advisory group to assist in developing
accommodations for all students. Linkages are also in place with a local senior
citizens' home so that all students, exceptional included, reach out to senior
community members.
The school administration has organized regular release time so
that teams of teachers may pursue in-service needs, such as exploring
appropriate assessment tools (profiles and portfolios).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dunwich-Dutton Public School (JK-6)
PO Box 40
Dutton ON
N0L 1J0
Mr. Roger Robbins, Principal
(519) 762-2419
Elgin County Board of Education
WORO
This rural school has successfully integrated students who have
spina bifida, cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, hearing impairments, and
developmental and learning disabilities. Frequent parent-teacher communication
plays an important part in planning to accommodate exceptional pupils.
The classroom teachers take responsibility for the educational
program for their students, assisted by the learning resource teachers in
planning and implementing appropriate modifications to the environment and
program to ensure academic and social progress for each student.
When a student with a profound hearing loss who communicates by
signing entered the school, teachers learned sign language and taught it to the
other students in the classroom, who were again placed in the same classroom as
this student the following year. The Robarts School continues to be closely
involved with this student's program. Additional support has come from an
educational assistant, the resource teacher, and a computer.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E. L. Crossley Secondary School (sec.)
350 Highway 20
Fonthill ON
L0S 1E0
Mr. W. F. Paul Fell, Principal
(905) 892-2635
Niagara South Board of Education
CORO
Students who are deaf or hard of hearing are integrated into
regular classes, where they get academic, social, and practical support to
maintain their freedom in the hearing world. Parents help to develop the IEP
and remain in close contact with teachers through regularly scheduled
conferences, parents' nights, IPRC meetings, and informal conversations.
Students take five years to complete their Ontario Secondary
School Diploma, as they receive daily individualized support for one academic
period, for a semester. Note-takers take notes of material presented orally in
the regular classroom and send these notes to the resource-room teachers, so
that students have access to this material as soon as possible. Any problems
that arise in the use of these notes are dealt with immediately. In this way,
students can keep up with their academic work.
Exceptional students participate in sports teams, drama
productions, and art competitions. They attend dances, study with groups
preparing to enter provincial mathematics contests, and succeed in co-operative
education placements. These have led to successful part-time jobs.
The resource room has been modified to eliminate extraneous
sounds, which increase fatigue in oral students, who have severe to profound
hearing losses but are trying to talk. Support in this optimal listening
environment focuses on the language development and remediation required
because of the delays in language development that typify these students.
The resource room is also where exceptional students take
friends during non-academic times, and where they may interact within their own
peer groups. Although there is no formal peer-tutoring arrangement, regular
monitoring of peer interaction is done through an integration survey that
classroom teachers supply regularly. The note-taker observes and informs the
teaching staff of successes and needs. Summaries of these observations are sent
to parents, along with anecdotal reports on resource room progress, both of
which supplement the regular school reporting.
The exceptional students have use of the following:
- a computer in the resource room, with several word-processing
programs and typing tutors
- VCRs with closed-caption decoders
- a telephone with volume control and a TDD
- photocopies of all orally delivered announcements
- adaptor cords for audio-visual equipment, so they can plug in
directly through their personal hearing aids
- centrally located FM equipment distributed from the resource
room
The school staff have taken relevant in-service training, and
new teachers attend workshops at the E. C. Drury School to sensitize them to
the special needs of the integrated students.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eastdale Public School (JK-5)
65 Aileen Drive
Woodstock ON
N4S 4A2
Mr. Robert Lester, Principal
(519) 537-2652
Oxford County Board of Education
WORO
This school houses the Primary-Junior Bridges Program, the focus
of which is to integrate students with behavioural needs into a regular
classroom environment. Bridges Program staff initially accompany the students
into the regular classrooms full time, and then decrease their time in the
classrooms as the students become able to cope without their direct
assistance.
The philosophy of the program is that all interactions are
opportunities for the students to improve their social behaviour; therefore,
integration into regular classrooms is critical to the success of the program.
The role of the Bridges Program staff is to provide the support, encouragement,
and consequences that allow successful integration to take place.
Parents meet with Bridges Program staff each month to share
their thoughts, feelings, and ideas about discipline and child rearing. A
positive relationship between parents and staff is developed through daily
written communication, regular phone calls, and visits by parents to the
school.
The Bridges Program staff co-ordinate frequent case conferences
on each of the exceptional students. All team members, e.g., the Children's Aid
Society, school staff, and support staff, work together to create a
co-ordinated approach to managing each child's needs.
As part of the integration process, all members of the school
staff receive training in non-violent crisis intervention.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
East Oxford Central School (JK-8)
RR 4
Woodstock ON
N4S 7V8
Mr. David Hay, Principal
(519) 539-4828
Oxford County Board of Education
WORO
This rural, elementary school integrates students who are blind
or have low vision. The teacher of the blind provides braille instruction and
adapts the classroom teachers' programs.
The teacher of the blind and the classroom teachers are
responsible for developing and achieving the goals outlined in each student's
IEP. Daily planning allows the exceptional students to achieve the same
learning outcomes expected of their peers. The classroom teachers provide
materials to be brailled or adapted well in advance of each lesson. They are
verbally explicit when giving directions and descriptions of chalkboard work.
Concrete manipulatives are incorporated within the classroom. The educational
assistant works directly with the students, providing assistance as required.
The physical education program has been adapted to include private swimming
lessons for exceptional students.
The teacher of the blind provides in-service training to all
school staff and students. This teacher also ensures that exceptional students
have access to a computer, brailler, printer, and enlarger.
Outside the classroom, the students are involved in
co-curricular and recess activities. Other students assist only when necessary.
The school environment has been adapted so that halls are free of obstructions
such as equipment, boots, and garbage pails.
There is daily communication between educational staff and
parents through a two-way communication book. Homework assignments,
information, and inquiries are conveyed primarily through this medium.
Through the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the
students receive thirty hours of orientation and mobility training each year. A
local service club has provided funding for them to attend a camp in June. This
enables them to meet and interact with other students who are blind, from all
around the province.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Elmridge Catholic School (JK-6)
1923 Elmridge Drive
Gloucester ON
K1J 8G7
Mrs. Mary Armstrong, Principal
(613) 741-0100
Carleton RCSB
EORO
This school has successfully integrated exceptional students
with spina bifida, blindness, developmental disabilities, learning
disabilities, giftedness, and extreme behaviour disorders which have required
treatment in residential centres.
Students are viewed as belonging to the school community rather
than to an individual class. They help each other through working buddies and a
peer mediation system. Students are placed in age-appropriate classes and
teachers modify the regular curriculum or seek assistance to have an alternate
curriculum established. Students are in their classrooms for the majority of
their program, but are withdrawn to a small group setting if necessary.
Placement students from community colleges offer additional support.
Each month there is a student awards assembly at which awards
for citizenship, improvement, and achievement in specific English and French
academic areas are given. Exceptional students are encouraged by additional
rewards.
Parents of exceptional students talk with staff regularly and
receive a copy of the IEP, which is written by the classroom teacher in
collaboration with the resource teacher. These IEPs are completed for many
students, not just those who are identified as exceptional. All staff have
received in-service sessions on writing IEPs, accommodating special needs, and
dealing with behavioural concerns. Individuals have received support in working
with students who are blind, or have ADHD, Tourette's syndrome, or language
delays.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ernest Cumberland Elementary School (JK-8)
160 Eighth Av
Alliston ON
L9R 1A5
Ms. Ruth Montgomery, Principal
(705) 435-0676
Simcoe County Board of Education
CORO
Through the home school model, which keeps students in their
local community school, this school integrates exceptional students in every
category. Since all students are in regular classrooms, there is much
collaborative planning among the regular classroom teachers, speech/language
personnel, school resource staff, and school board support staff.
The integration team includes the entire school community –
administrators, educational assistants, regular class and specialist teachers,
secretarial and custodial staff, secondary school staff, co-operative education
students, adult students, parents, students, school board support personnel,
and outside co-facilitators from hospitals, treatment centres, the police
department, the Children's Aid Society, Home Care, and other agencies. These
team members contribute to case conferences, interviews, and programming.
Parents of exceptional students are involved in decisions about
alternative programs, and are consulted about inclusion in special courses or
support groups. They have input in planning, delivery, and evaluation of
programs. The Interested Parent Group has funded a parent resource library of
books, videos, tapes, and magazines on topics such as ADD.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Essex County RCSSB
360 Fairview Av W
Essex ON
N8M 1Y5
Mr. Richard Dittman, Superintendent of Education
(519)
776-6431, Ext. 397
WORO
This school board endeavours to provide flexible and
comprehensive special education services which promote the inclusion of
identified exceptional pupils in neighbourhood schools. Co-operative planning
between school staff and parents about placement and program structure ensures
that the pupil is served in the most enabling environment. Wherever possible,
parental choices for placement are accommodated. The board provides a continuum
of services, consisting of various programs and placements which undergo
ongoing assessment and evaluation. Self-contained centralized programs for
pupils with severe behaviour disorders are available as a short-term
program.
Most exceptional pupils are integrated in regular classrooms for
60 per cent or more of each day. Pupils may be withdrawn for small group and/or
individual instruction, which is usually related to the regular classroom
curriculum or activities. In many cases, the resource teacher works in the
regular classroom.
In-service training is provided to staff in order to implement
and maintain optimal learning environments and strategies. There is regular
co-operation with local community services, and participation in relevant
support initiatives focusing on early identification and intervention.
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Father Michael McGivney Catholic High School (sec.)
5300 Fourteenth Av
Markham ON
L3S 3K8
Ms. Andrea Steele, Head – Special Education Department
(905) 472-4961
York Region RCSSB
CORO
Exceptional students with developmental disabilities are
integrated into regular classrooms with the support of the Functional Life
Skills (FLS) program. This withdrawal program operates for forty minutes daily,
and lessons focus on friendship, sexuality, and personal concerns. Other
integrated exceptional students have learning disabilities, visual impairments,
and behaviour disorders.
Parents are involved through the use of a daily communication
book, numerous phone calls, and, in some cases, daily contact. They are an
integral part of the team and have input in developing the IEP.
Classroom teachers and the FLS teachers refer to the IEP in
adapting the curriculum of the classroom teacher, and in marking the work
produced by exceptional students. In some classes, additional support is
provided by the FLS teacher and/or an educational assistant. The educational
assistants write daily anecdotal notes which provide the basis for planning and
monitoring individual programs. Exceptional students are expected to produce
assignments parallel to those of other students, but tailored to their
abilities; these are graded by the subject teachers. Older students in tutorial
classes work as mentors and experts in areas of technology. The strengths of
the tutorial students are tapped and their self-esteem is reinforced as they
guide younger students.
Learning-strategies classes are offered to assist Grade 9 and 10
exceptional students with core subjects. There is frequent dialogue and
planning between regular classroom teachers and the special education teachers
providing the learning strategies program. Students preparing for tests are
taught study skills with lessons that use core subjects. Students writing an
English assignment are taught writing and word-processing skills.
Available for case conferences and in-service training for the
school are behaviour resource workers, speech pathologists, psychologists, the
FLS consultant, and a physiotherapist.
Exceptional students attend school dances and basketball games,
participate in the school band, liturgies, and Grade 9 retreats, and join
classmates on all field trips. Job entry programs and personal life
co-operative education provide the necessary link between integration within a
school environment and integration within the community.
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Francis Libermann Catholic High School (sec.)
4640 Finch Av E
Scarborough ON
M1S 4G2
Mr. Louis Rendulich, Program Leader of Special Education
(416) 393-5524
Metropolitan Separate School Board
CORO
There are approximately 950 students in this school, of whom
over 100 have been identified as exceptional in the areas of behaviour,
learning and development disabilities, physical and multiple disabilities, or
giftedness.
The special education department provides support for the
classroom teachers and the exceptional students. Some students are monitored,
meaning resource teachers see them daily, weekly, or biweekly as needed. A form
showing appropriate stages for each monitored student is given to all subject
teachers. Other students are withdrawn for extra help. Most of these students
receive one period of special educational assistance each day and are
integrated for the rest of the time.
Modified programs for exceptional students include:
- parallel teaching;
- taped novels and assignments;
- subject work assistance;
- scribing;
- photocopied notes;
- extended time for tests and exams.
The members of the special education department, including
support staff, work closely with parents, staff, board personnel, and outside
agencies in planning and implementing programs that promote integration into
the entire life of the school. The special education department provides
in-service training for the staff in the needs of exceptional students. Peer
tutors provide additional support in both special education and regular
classrooms.
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General Mercer Public School (JK-6)
30 Turnberry Av
Toronto ON
M6N 1P8
Ms. Deborah Porter, Principal
(416) 393-1414
Toronto Board of Education
CORO
A Grade 1 pilot project class was composed of twelve "regular"
students and three with developmental disabilities. School board consultants
helped with planning appropriate programs, such as speech and behaviour
management. During the first year of the program, an independent observer
visited the class every two weeks, observing the interaction of the students.
At the end of the year, a written report was prepared on the program. Various
consultants monitored each child's progress through observation and testing.
Parents approved the IEP and were contacted to discuss students' progress on a
regular basis. They were encouraged to phone the teacher with concerns and were
invited to visit and take part in the classroom program at various times
throughout the year.
Curriculum modifications were made to include students of
various abilities, allowing them to experience success and to develop the
skills outlined in their IEPs. With modifications to the curriculum, the
exceptional students were able to work with peers in reading groups, math
groups, and discussions. At times, students learned other forms of
communication such as signing and using pictures.
Exceptional students were included in music classes and
concerts, house league teams, and play day, class trips, and recess. The only
time they were not with their peers was once a week when they were bused to
another school for swimming lessons.
The students remained together for three years, progressing from
Grade 1 to Grade 3. During that time, new students were added as others moved.
At the end of the three years, the regular students went on to a Grade 4 class
with another teacher and the three exceptional students were placed in a
special education class. A new Grade 1 grouping was formed which is now in its
third year.
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George L. Armstrong School (JK-8)
460 Concession St
Hamilton ON
L9A 1C3
Mr. Kenneth Bain, Principal
(905) 385-5337
Hamilton Board of Education
CORO
This school has a full integration program for all exceptional
students. Its learning centre provides support for all students, who move
freely in and out of the centre as their timetables dictate. When all students
have access to resource assistance, any stigma previously attached to a
specialized program is eradicated.
Learning centre staff follow a personalized daily timetable to
enable them to participate both in regular classrooms and in the learning
centre. At least one member of this staff is always assigned to the centre. The
staff anticipate and respond to students' changing needs through collaborative
problem solving, creative use of community resources, and ongoing staff
development. Resource teachers are expected to:
- diagnose and assess learning problems;
- be advocates for students and teachers;
- provide demonstration lessons;
- test before and after teaching, to track base levels;
- provide drill, review, and consolidation;
- co-operatively plan, implement, review, monitor,
differentiate, and evaluate pupil programs;
- facilitate diagnostic, formative, and summative
evaluations;
- design and implement parallel and replacement programs;
- consult with classroom teachers, parents, school system,
agency, and community personnel;
- provide formal and informal in-service training for parents,
staff, and volunteers.
The critical components of the learning centre and the details
of its programming are clearly laid out, including:
- daily monitoring and evaluation of student work;
- assessment strategies;
- direct teaching to individuals and small groups;
- a wide variety of ways to practise skills;
- examples of good student work;
- student work contracts;
- opportunities to practise new behaviours, skills, and
concepts;
- augmentative communication systems, including signing.
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Glengarry District High School (sec.)
PO Box 190
Alexandria ON
K0C 1A0
Mr. E. Turpin, Principal
(613) 525-1066
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Public School Board
EORO
This small school of approximately 430 students is integrating
about 75 exceptional students in regular classrooms through a co-operative
approach. This includes students who are gifted and those who have
intellectual, developmental, learning, and physical disabilities, or behaviour
disorders.
Regular classroom teachers share responsibility for the
development of the IEPs with resource services staff. Special education support
staff work in Grade 9 classes and core Grade 10 classes. Mini-units, alternate
testing, and examination arrangements and resource services for senior students
are available. Additional support is provided by peer tutors.
Parents and relevant agencies, such as the Children's Aid
Society and Probation Services, are involved through visits, telephone calls,
and case conferences, as needed.
In-service training is valued and over the years almost all
staff have become qualified in special education.
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Glenview Public School (JK-5)
143 Townsend Av
Burlington ON
L7T 1Z1
Ms. Virginia Bryer, Principal
(905) 634-6789
Halton Board of Education
CORO
Glenview has no additional teacher support beyond the regular
allocation of 1.5 special education resource teachers for a school of 410
students. The special needs children are integrated into regular classes at the
Grades 1 to 3 level.
All children are involved in activities that mix regular classes
with French immersion classes, primary classes with older buddies in junior
classes, or same-grade classes for theme-related activities. As a result, all
children work with a variety of teachers throughout the school. This often
requires additional planning from the special education teachers and
instructional assistants, who provide information, support materials, and
assistance.
Teams including special education teachers, instructional
assistants, and regular classroom teachers meet frequently to discuss the
program plans for the regular class, upcoming events, timetable changes, and
how to accommodate the special needs students so they can be part of regular
classroom activities.
The IEP documents these plans and is developed collaboratively
by the special education and regular classroom teachers, parents, school board
resource staff, instructional assistants, computer specialists, and personnel
from community resources, such as Chedoke McMaster Hospital. The plans are
reviewed regularly and parents assist in establishing realistic social and
academic goals, for home and for school. Sharing of resources such as computer
overlays, Blissboards, toileting equipment, etc., is an important component.
In-service training sessions on the use of any new equipment or materials are
ongoing for school personnel and parents.
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Good Shepherd Catholic School (JK-6)
101 Bearbrook Rd
Gloucester ON
K1B 3H5
Ms. Sherry Swales, Principal
(613) 824-4531
Carleton RCSB
EORO
Since 1987, this school has provided a school board program for
students who use wheelchairs and have been identified as having physical
disabilities and/or intellectual disabilities, and/or are sensory-deprived
and/or medically fragile. Until 1992 this class, called the Dependently
Handicapped (DH) Unit, was segregated and the students joined their peers in
regular classrooms only when subjects such as music and art were being taught.
Then the DH Unit staff formed an inclusion team, and surveyed
the full school staff to determine the barriers to inclusion. Parents were
asked to recommend ways in which the school community could become more
inclusive. The inclusion team also assisted in developing a school-based
philosophy of inclusion. Parent Program Night provided an opportunity to
further educate and inform the community about the school commitment to bring
all children together.
Grade and division meetings began to include the staff from the
DH Unit. Physical changes were made to accommodate the exceptional pupils in
the regular classroom setting.
Now the students in the DH Unit are fully integrated. Their
individual goals, encompassing mobility, communication, and daily living
skills, are set up to be accomplished within the regular classroom program, in
consultation with a transdisciplinary team. The students leave their regular
classrooms only for physiotherapy, tube feeding, therapeutic swimming class,
etc. At these times, they may go to the area that was once their segregated
classroom; it is now used by all staff for art, drama, cooking, and other
activities.
Parents continue to be closely involved in setting and
monitoring goals via home-school communication books, phone calls, and school
visits.
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Good Shepherd Catholic School (JK-8)
19112 Concession 2
RR 1
Newmarket ON
L3Y 4V8
Mr. Jim McDermott, Principal
(905) 895-0303
York Region RCSSB
CORO
This school offers supported integrated placements to
exceptional pupils, as demonstrated by the program provided to an
eight-year-old student with autism.
This student has been placed in a Grade 2 classroom with a
full-time educational assistant to support participation in classroom
activities. A peer support system is in place at recess and lunchtime.
School board professional personnel, including the
speech/language pathologist, behaviour management and special education
consultant, and psychologist, have assisted the special education and classroom
teachers in setting goals for the student. Additional support has been provided
by support personnel from Kerry's Place (a community services group), who work
in the home with the student and his family. A communication book is frequently
used between the classroom and special education teacher and parents.
The special education program plan includes the following
elements:
- specific goal statements, e.g., to develop listening and
speaking skills
- specific objective statements, linked to the goals with the
introductory phrase "so that" – e.g., "so that X uses oral social language
with peers and adults in the school community, participates in conversation . .
."
- term objectives that include strategies, materials, and
responsibilities, e.g., practise telephone conversations, label the environment
- general preventative strategies, e.g., clarification of
behavioural expectations before beginning a task; and individual preventative
strategies, e.g., posting a daily schedule of routines
- general environmental motivating strategies, e.g.,
reinforcement activities; and individual motivating strategies, e.g., praise
for co-operative behaviour
- general environmental discipline structures, e.g., three-step
system (label, warn, consequences); and individual discipline structures, e.g.,
time out
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Haliburton County Board of Education
PO Box 507
Haliburton ON
K0M 1S0
Mr. H. Dale Robinson, Superintendent of Education
(705)
457-1980
CORO
Almost all exceptional students in this school board are fully
integrated. The exception is a small group of students identified as having
behavioural disorders. These students are placed in a temporary segregated
program and are integrated as soon as possible.
The involvement of parents in their children's educational
program is a high priority. Parents take part in team meetings which are held
in the school prior to the IPRC meeting. They have access to all information
gathered by the school, and have input at this stage, before any decision is
made. Integration is consistently offered as a first-choice option on
placement.
All special education resource teachers work in regular
classrooms on a daily basis to assist regular classroom teachers with program
modifications, appropriate strategies, writing IEPs, and the management and
instruction of the students.
There is a secondary school credit course in peer tutoring in
which trained senior students help out in Grade 9 and Grade 10 classrooms.
There is a similar elementary school program called Peer Helping, managed by
guidance teachers.
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Hamilton Board of Education
PO Box 2558
Hamilton ON
L8N 3L1
Ms. Diane Husack, Senior Speech/Language Pathologist
(905) 527-5092
CORO
The Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) team was
created to meet the specialized communication needs of students from Junior
Kindergarten to Ontario Academic Courses. AAC programs include body language,
facial expression, natural gestures, pantomime, sign language, tangible
systems, graph systems, written language, technological devices and synthesized
speech, and vocal output. With individualized programming, AAC programs offer
the potential for successful integrated experiences in both learning and
socialization.
The team offers a range of services:
- facilitating integration of communication-impaired
students
- providing a continuity of services/programming for students
from JK to graduation
- assisting with differentiation and modification of curriculum
focus to meet specialized communication needs
- assisting with communication goal planning, including
developing IEPs in collaboration with the classroom teacher and parents
- providing consultation for identification of, and planning
for, optimum classroom communication environments
- attending system-based and school-based program planning
meetings
- designing and constructing customized materials for
programming in the school, home, and community
- maintaining a resource lending library
- offering in-service training and other professional
development opportunities for school personnel, administration, families, and
community
- providing individualized assessment and programming
recommendations
- providing liaison with community agencies and
organizations
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Hamilton-Wentworth RCSSB
690 Barton St E
Hamilton ON
L8L 3A6
Ms. Betty Browne, Co-ordinator of Programs, Special Education
(905) 525-2930
CORO
With the motto "Each Child Belongs", this school board has been
integrating exceptional pupils into regular classrooms for the past twenty-five
years. There is a commitment to providing the necessary human and fiscal
support. All school staff share in the responsibility of integrating each
student.
All exceptional pupils attend regular age-appropriate classrooms
where academic goals and objectives, as well as social and emotional supports,
are designed around the needs of each individual. Exceptional pupils share with
their fellow pupils the responsibility to demonstrate acceptable behaviour and
to strive for total growth and development. All the students with developmental
disabilities who left the board's secondary schools in June 1994 had work
and/or recreational programs arranged as part of their transition to the adult
world.
Parents are partners in the education of their children. A
parent support group, Parents of Children with Special Needs, has been
operating effectively for fifteen years. This is a proactive advisory/support
group.
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Highview Public School (K-7)
240 McClellan Way
Aurora ON
L4G 6N9
Ms. Judy Kane, Principal
(905) 727-6642
York Region Board of Education
CORO
This school integrates exceptional students who have physical
disabilities, and who are hard of hearing. There are integrated classes for
students with language and learning disabilities and behaviour disorders.
Additional assistance and in-service training are provided by
teaching assistants, the speech and language consultant, the occupational
therapist, the consultant for the hearing-impaired, the special education
consultant, and the special education administrator.
Parents are an integral part of the team that plans and
evaluates programs.
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Hillcrest Middle School (6-8)
460 Melvin Av
Hamilton ON
L8H 2L7
Mr. Doug Trimble, Principal
(905) 549-3076
Hamilton Board of Education
CORO
This school integrates students who have learning disabilities,
behaviour disorders, and developmental disabilities. Planning for all students
is based on William Glasser's stages in the development of an effective school:
the elimination of fear, the focus on quality, and self-evaluation.
The staff has restructured the scheduled day to enable classroom
teachers to spend more time with their students. Teachers have created
instructional units in which there is a maximum of fifteen students in each
language arts or mathematics class, giving staff more time to spend with
exceptional students in the regular classroom.
All advisory groups in the school's adviser program have
exceptional students in them. The staff advisers serve as case managers for all
students in their adviser group, including exceptional students. They are
responsible for writing the IEPs for all exceptional students in their adviser
group, and for conferencing with parents on all academic, social, and emotional
issues related to their advisees.
Parents participate in developing and implementing strategies
that will allow them to be more effective in their role as partners in their
children's learning. Parent involvement is regularly requested and
supported.
Special education staff meet twice each week with regular
classroom teachers in grade teams and plan co-operatively to meet the needs of
all students. Experienced staff with certification in special education serve
as mentors for peers with less experience in dealing with exceptional students
in the regular classroom.
Exceptional students are actively involved in the life of the
school community, including:
- student support groups dealing with alcohol/drug abuse, peer
counselling/mediation, death, separation, and divorce;
- school athletic teams;
- student council;
- clubs and activities.
A cross-disciplinary violence prevention unit has been
developed. Student progress in all domains of learning is tracked regularly and
comprehensively. Students are informed about their progress and are invited to
work with their teachers and with peers in setting learning goals.
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Humphrey School (JK-8)
RR 2
Parry Sound ON
P2A 2W8
Mr. Don Cowan, Principal
(705) 732-4801
West Parry Sound Board of Education
NEORO
Approximately 4 per cent of the 325 students of this rural
elementary school are identified as exceptional.
Exceptional students are integrated in regular classroom
programs with opportunities for in-class and withdrawal assistance provided as
needed. There are two special education support programs to complement the
regular classroom programs:
- a half-hour small-group withdrawal program for daily language
arts and/or mathematics remedial/enrichment opportunities
- up to a quarter-day withdrawal support
Both of these support programs have curricula and instruction
that complement what is happening in the regular classroom. The continuity
between programs is maintained through daily contact between the resource
teachers and the classroom teachers.
The special education resource teachers work closely with
parents and community agencies such as Home Care, the Child and Family Centre,
ISNC, and the Children's Aid Society. The extensive use of community
volunteers, the library/resource teacher, and community professionals provides
additional support.
The steering group for planning integration consists of the two
special education resource teachers and the principal. The team begins annual
planning for integration in June so that supports are in place for students
from the first day of school in September. A three-level system is used to
support the special needs of:
- students whose progress is being monitored;
- students who are supported by the Resource Assistance
Program;
- students who are given additional support through the
Communications Resource Program.
Ongoing educational resource team meetings are held throughout
the school year. The steering group is augmented by classroom teachers and
sometimes parents, and minutes are kept as part of the tracking of student
progress.
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Huttonville Public School (JK-8)
Embleton Rd
Huttonville ON
L0J 1B0
Mr. L. Baswick, Principal
(905) 455-8480
Peel Board of Education
CORO
This small school integrates several pupils who have physical
and/or developmental disabilities.
The school support teacher works in the classroom with these
students in partnership with the teacher, as does the teacher assistant.
Parents of the exceptional students are involved to the same extent as other
parents in the school. Board personnel are involved with the school on a
monitoring and consultation basis.
The exceptional pupils are evaluated in the same manner as all
other children and expectations for their success are of a high standard.
Personal computers, slant boards, black-lined paper, standers, and wheelchairs
contribute to program and mobility. With the help of teacher assistants,
or on their own with their classroom teacher, the exceptional
students participate in all aspects of school life, including extracurricular
activities such as choir, dances, field trips, clubs, and committees.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
J. E. Benson Public School (JK-8)
1556 Wyandotte St W
Windsor ON
N9B 1H5
Mr. W. French, Principal
(519) 254-3761
Windsor Board of Education
WORO
This inner-city school of approximately 475 students integrates
exceptional students into regular classes through the Primary/Junior Family
Grouping Program at the Grades 3 to 5 level. (In a "family grouping" progr | 
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