Transcript the Powerpoint Presentation ONLY here

Educating Students with
Special Needs in Quebec
Cindy Finn, Ph.D.
October 24, 2012
Classification of Special Needs in
Quebec (MELS)
Special Needs
Students in Difficulty
(Learning or
Behavior)
Students with
Social Maladjustments
or Handicaps
Identification procedures and
government funding differ for both
categories
**
Students in difficulty
• Students identified as having academic
difficulties and behavioral challenges
– Learning difficulties/Mild Intellectual Delay
– Behavior disorders
• a priori Funding, based on historical percentage
of student population (10-12%)
• School boards determine identification, in
accordance with MELS guidelines and collective
agreements
• LBPSB Policy on Special Needs
Students with Handicaps/Severe
Behavior Disorders
• Variable Per capita funding (per board per
code)
• Validation process to substantiate “codes”
3 necessary elements to support a code
– Diagnosis by professional
– Limitations that affect learning
– School-based Services
• Code = Dx + limitations + services
• Represents +3.8% of LBPSB population
MELS Codes for students with Social
Maladjustments/Handicaps
Categories (identified by MELS with numerical code):
• Severe behavioral disorder (14)
• Mild motor impairment/Organic impairment (33)
• Severe motor impairment (36)
• Language Disorder (34)
• Moderate to severe intellectual impairment (24)
• Profound intellectual impairment (23)
• Pervasive developmental disorder (50)
• Psychopathological disorder (53)
• Visual impairment (42)
• Hearing impairment (44)
• Atypical disorder (99)
LBPSB Stats on Special Needs
• 12% of total LBP population
• 1810 students in difficulty (2012)
– 34% at elementary level
– 66% at secondary level
• 879 students with handicaps (2012)
– 50.6% at elementary
– 49.4% at high school
• Students with special needs in all LBPSB schools
except Soulanges
Breaking down the data
• In difficulty: Learning Difficulty (74.6%), Behavior
Disorders (16.3%), Mild Intellectual Delay (9.1%)
• Handicaps: Autism (47%), psychopathological
disorders (13.5%), moderate-profound
intellectual impairments (11%), language
impairment (10.5%), mild motor/organic
disorders (7.9%), sensory impairments (6.6%),
severe motor disability (2.9%)
Provincial Picture
• Policy on Special Education (1999)
• Promotes success for all
– “Educational success has different
meanings depending on the abilities
and needs of different students” (p. 15)
- 6 ways to promote success
-
Prevention & early intervention
Adapting services to the needs of students
Favoring inclusion/integration in natural environment
Creating community & enhancing partnerships
Assisting students ‘at-risk’
Evaluating students’ educational success
Complementary Educational Services
• Services to assist schools in supporting the
diverse learning and social needs of all students
• 12 services, 4 programs
4 Complementary
Education Programs
Prevention and Promotion: Provide students with an
environment conducive to the development of a
healthy lifestyle, their health and well being
Assistance: Help students with academic and career
choices
Student Life: Develop students’ sense of autonomy,
responsibility, moral and spiritual dimension,
interpersonal relationships and sense of community
and school belonging
Support to Learning: Provide students with
conditions conducive to learning
Educational Services for
Students within LBPSB
• Classroom teachers
• Resource teachers
• Support from paraprofessionals (Integration aide/Special
Education Technician/Social Aide Technician)
• Student Services Department (Non-teaching professionals)
• Educational Services Department (Curriculum/Program
Consultants)
• Itinerant Teacher Services – MOSD & MAB (Vision and Hearing)
• Professionals from outside agencies (CSSS, Batshaw)
• Non-teaching professionals supporting all schools
• Direct services to students (e.g., assessment)
• Services to schools (e.g., consultation, professional
development)
• Services to parents and families (e.g., FSSTT)
• Assist with Ministry of Education-related duties (coding,
committees, measures, training)
• Work in partnership with other ministries and
community groups (e.g., Batshaw, health, police)
• Conduct research on best practices regarding special
needs and inclusive education
• Supervise interns/placements, peer supervision
SOURCES OF FUNDING
• General funding (teacher posts = resource
teachers, aides/techs, professionals)
• In difficulty funding (base funding)
• Code-generated funding (per capita)
• Special grants (examples)
–
–
–
–
30059: IEP release $
30053: Supports Inclusion
30364: Professional resources
30810-1/2: Adapted equipment and technology
Organization of Services
• Delivered at the School level
• Importance of Resource Teams
Purpose of Resource Teams
 Learn more about student
 Review teaching strategies already in progress
 Brainstorm additional strategies with multidisciplinary group
 Develop/monitor an action plan
 Facilitate communication within the school, with
parents, with other professionals involved
 Carry out referrals for consultation, assessment,
or identification of special needs
INVITED
GUEST
Possible Resource
Team Participants
PRINCIPAL
RESOURCE
TEACHERS
CLSC (SOCIAL
WORKER/
NURSE )
SP. ED TECH
SOCIAL AIDE
TECH
SPEECH LANGUAGE
PATHOLOGIST OR
OCCUPATIONAL
THERAPIST
CONSULTANT FOR
SPECIAL
NEEDS/OTHER SSD
PROFESSIONALS
C L ASSR O O M
TEACHER
INTEGRATION
AIDE
FSSTT
SCHOOL
PSYCHOLOGIST
Individual Educational Plan
• A legal, confidential document
• Must be created when a student is identified with special
needs
– Formal identification (LD,BD,MI + Handicapped codes)
• May be developed when an intervention plan is needed but
there is no formal identification
• Linked directly to the QEP and report card
• To be developed in collaboration with key players
• A hands-on tool that outlines objectives and strategies that
should be referred to regularly and updated as to student’s
progress
Points of Transition
ELEMENTARY
• Registration procedures
• Resource team
planning
• Emphasis on early
intervention
• Collaboration with
outside partners
HIGH SCHOOLS
• Graduation
Track/Individual paths
• Work-Oriented Pathway
(WOTP)
• Students with high
special needs
– Academic emphasis +
Life skills (hygiene,
sexuality, independent
living)
• Transition planning
(until age 21 for some)
Building capacity in our schools
• Provincial Resources housed at LBPSB
• Ongoing Professional Development
• Projects (e.g., ALDI, FLASH)
More initiatives
– For students with emotional/social/behavioral challenges
– Focus on early intervention, proactive focus
– Meaningfully involve parents in child’s world
• REACH Program
– Cycle 1 elementary program for students with severe behavioral difficulties
• LIFE/Transition Programs
– Programs for 16+ students with high special needs
• Co-op program (John Abbott & Vanier)
– Supports autonomous secondary students (18-21)
with developmental challenges who participate in college life
– Focus on basic academics, life skills, work skills (Light a Dream)
Collaboration with Partners
•
•
•
•
•
•
Parents & Families
Health & Social Services
– Batshaw Youth & Family Centres
– Hospitals (MCH, JGH, Douglas)
– CSSS (4 on our territory)
– Readaptation Centres
• CRDI (Centres for Intellectual Handicaps) e.g., CROM
• CRDP (Centres for Physical Handicaps) e.g., MAB/Mackay
Universities (McGill, Concordia) & CEGEPS (Vanier, Dawson)
Community groups (e.g., WIAIH)
Professionals in Private Practice
Other schools/school boards (e.g., Montreal Oral School for the Deaf)
Entente MELS-MSSS/
Specialized schools
• Dawson Alternative/Portage (Batshaw)
• Angrignon School (Douglas Institute)
• Philip E. Layton & Mackay Centre School
(EMSB)
• Hors reseau schools (e.g., Peter Hall, MOSD)
MELS Resources
http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/DGFJ/das/orientations/orientations.html
Thank you
http://snac.lbpsb.qc.ca/