Inclusive Classrooms in Ontario Schools 0138146403, 9780138146405

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INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS IN ONTARIO SCHOOLS

NANCY L. HUTCHINSON ANDREA K. MARTIN je

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PEARSON a

INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS IN ONTARIO SCHOOLS UEEN’S UNIVERSITY

UEEN’S UNIVERSITY

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Hutchinson, Nancy Lynn, 1949Inclusive classrooms in Ontario schools /Nancy L. Hutchinson, Andrea kK. Martin.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-13-814640-5

1. Inclusive education—Ontario. LC1203.C3H86 2011

I. Martin, Andrea K. (Andrea Kirman), 1946—_ 371.9'04609713

II. Title.

C2010-906306-6

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario. Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. This publication is protected by copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission, write to the Permissions Department. ISBN 978-0-13-814640-5 Vice-President, Editorial Director: Gary Bennett Editor-in-Chief: Ky Pruesse Acquisitions Editor: David Le Gallais Marketing Manager: Loula March Developmental Editor: Rema Celio Project Managers: Marissa Lok and Renata Butera (Central Publishing) Production Editor: Mohinder Singh Copy Editor: Dina Theleritis and Sanchita Massey Proofreader: Kapil Arambam Compositor: Aptara®, Inc. Art Director: Julia Hall Cover and Interior Designer: Anthony Leung Cover Image: Masterfile

Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Users are forbidden to copy the data and redisseminate them, in an original or modified form, for commercial purposes, without permission from Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from Statistics Canada’s Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at www.statcan.gc.ca, and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.

V4

oetaes

12

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

PEARSON cence eRe rane eee

To our mothers, Ailene Holts and Sylvia Lea Palmer, who believed in us, encouraged us, and continue to inspire us.

Brief Contents Preface

xl

introduction

Life asaTeacher

Chapter 1

Special Education in Ontario: Where We Are Now

1

Chapter 2

The Educator’s Role as Teacher and Collaborator

28

Chapter 3

Teaching Students with High-Incidence Exceptionalities

Chapter 4

Teaching Students with Low-Incidence Exceptionalities

Chapter 5

Differentiating Teaching

Chapter 6

Adapting Assessment and Using Assessment to Differentiate Teaching 139

Chapter 7

Climate, Community, and Classroom Management

Chapter 8

Enhancing Social Relations

Conclusion Glossary

203 208

References Name Index Subject Index

221 237 242

xiv

114

182

161

50 81

Contents Preface

xi

introduction

Life as aTeacher

Chapter 1

Special Education in Ontario: Where We Are Now Introduction

xiv

1

+

3

Exceptional Education in Ontario

3

Canada: Inclusive Society, Inclusive Schools

6

Where We Are Now: “Education for All” in Ontario The Current State in Each Province and Territory Cross-Country Summary 10

7

710

How We Got Here: Highlights in the Development of Inclusive Education in Ontario 14 Robarts Plan and Hall-Dennis Report,1960s Bill82,1980

74

14

Comparable Legislation in the US: Public Law (PL) 94-142 Emily Eaton Case 15 Current Accessibility Requirements 16 Social Inclusion 16

15

“I Don’t Agree!” The Controversies over Inclusive Education Community and Inclusive Education

19

Using the ADAPT Strategy for Adapting Teaching to Include Exceptional

Learners 20 Step 1:Accounts of Students’ Strengths and Needs Step 2: Demands of the Classroom 21 Step 3:Adaptations

20

27

Step 4: Perspectives and Consequences

22

Step 5:Teach and Assess the Match 23 Using the ADAPT Strategy for a Wide Range of Exceptional Learners Evaluating Internet Resources 23 Reading the Journals to Remain Current 23

Chapter 2

The Educator’s Role as Teacher and Collaborator Introduction

23

28

30

The Role of the Classroom Teacher in Identifying Needs of Exceptional Learners

30

Using a Web Based Tool to Identify Needs

31

Making Classroom Adaptations and Keeping Records Using the ADAPT Strategy

32

Collaboration: Working with the Resource Teacher and Other Professionals 34

32

16

The Classroom Teacher and the In-School Special Education Team 35 Suggesting a Meeting of the In-School Team 35 The Work of the In-School Special EducationTeam Clarifying Your Role on the In-School Team 37

36

The Teacher and the Identification, Placement, and

Review Committee (IPRC) and the Individual Education Plan (IEP) 37 Planning to Meet Individual Needs

38

Changing Context of IEPsin Ontario

42

The Teacher and the Educational Assistant The Role of the Educational Assistant 43 Your Role in Working with an Educational Assistant

The Teacher andthe Parents Understanding the Parents’ Perspective Collaborating with Parents 47 Parent-Teacher Conferences 4/7

Chapter 3

43 44

45 45

Teaching Students with High-Incidence Exceptionalities Introduction

50

52

Teaching Students Who Are Gifted or Developmentally Advanced 54 Characteristics of Gifted Students 54 Differentiating Curriculum and Teaching Students Who Are Gifted

Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities

55

56 56

Implications for Learning and Classroom Differentiation: Students withLD 61

Teaching Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 63 Characteristics of Students with ADHD

63

Implications for Learning and for Differentiating in the Classroom: Students

with ADHD

65

Teaching Students with Communication Exceptionalities Characteristics of Students with Communication Exceptionalities

69

Differentiating Curriculum and Teaching Students with Communication

Exceptionalities

69

Teaching Students with Behaviour and Emotional Exceptionalities 71 Characteristics of Students with Behaviour Exceptionalities 77 Differentiating Curriculum and Teaching Students with Behaviour

Exceptionalities and Students with Mental Health Needs

73

Teaching Students with Mild Intellectual Disabilities vi

CONTENTS

76

69

Characteristics of Students with Mild Intellectual Disabilities 76 Differentiating Curriculum and Teaching Students with Mild Intellectual 78 Disabilities

Chapter 4

Teaching Students with Low-Incidence Exceptionalities Introduction

81

83

Teaching Students with Developmental Disabilities

83

Description of Developmental Disabilities 83 Characteristics of Students with Developmental Disabilities 86 Differentiating Curriculum and Teaching for Students with Developmental Disabilities 86

Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

88

Autism: Characteristics 88 Autism: Implications for Learning and Differentiation

90

Asperger Syndrome: Characteristics and Differentiating

92

Teaching Students Who Are Hard of Hearing or Deaf Characteristics of Students Who Are Hard of Hearing or Deaf

92

92

Implications for Learning and Classroom Adaptations for Students

with Hearing Loss

93

Teaching Children with Low Vision and Blindness Characteristics of Students with Blindness and Low Vision

95

95

Implications for Learning and Classroom Adaptations for Visual Impairments 95

Teaching Students with Physical Disabilities and Chronic Medical Conditions 97 Nervous System Impairment

97

Musculoskeletal Conditions

103

Chronic Health Conditions

Chapter 5

7105

Differentiating Teaching Introduction

114

116

Using the ADAPT Strategy to Analyze and Differentiate Teaching for Individuals and Groups 116 Step Step Step Step Step

1: Accounts of Students’ Strengths and Needs 117 3:Adaptations 117 4: Perspectives and Consequences 117 5:Teach and Assess the Match 117

116

2: Demands of the Classroom

Choosing and Combining Strategies for Differentiating Teaching Around the Mismatch

118

Remediating or Accelerating to Overcome the Mismatch

Teaching Through the Mismatch

118

118

118

What Differentiated Instruction Is Not

Analyzing Teaching: What You Can Adapt

118

119 CONTENTS

vii

Outcomes, Content, Cognitive Complexity, Authenticity, and Interest

of Task 119 Environment, Method of Presentation, Pace,and Quantity 121 Student Engagement and Activities, Amount of Practice, and Form of Practice 122 Scaffolding, Grouping, and Collaboration 122

Differentiating Teaching of Listening, Reading, and Writing 122 Building Listening Skills, Storytelling, and the Use of

Environmental Print 122 Background to Differentiating Teaching of Reading 123 Adapting to Promote Learning to Read: Phonological Processing and Balanced Reading Programs 124 Teaching Phonics 125 Enhancing Fluency 125 Differentiating Reading to Learn: Using Textbooks by Adapting, Supplementing, and Bypassing 125 Teaching Vocabulary and Comprehension Strategies 126 Enhancing Written Expression and Facilitating Note-Taking 127

Differentiating Teaching of Mathematics

129

Number Sense 129 Computation 130 Problem Solving, Representation, Symbol Systems, and Application

130

Differentiating Teaching in Content Areas: Science, Social Studies, Visual Arts, Music, Drama, and French Differentiating Differentiating Differentiating Differentiating Differentiating Differentiating

Science Teaching 131 Social Studies and Literature Visual Art 133 Music 134 Drama 134 the Teaching of French 134

Differentiating Homework

131

732

135

Adapting Teaching to Integrate Aboriginal Perspectives into Curricula 137

Chapter 6

Adapting Assessment and Using Assessment to Differentiate Teaching 139 Introduction

141

Using the ADAPT Strategy for Assessment

141

Large-Scale Assessment and Exceptional Students in Ontario 141 At the National Level 143 Large-Scale Assessment in Ontario Comparison with the United States

144

145

Summary of Exceptional Students and Large-Scale Assessment inCanada 146 viii

CONTENTS

Classroom Assessment

146

Changing Conceptions of Classroom Assessment 146 Assessment For Learning 148 Implications of Assessment for Learning for Student Confidence and Motivation 149 Preparing Students and Parents for Equitable (but Not Necessarily

the Same) Assessment

157

Differentiating Classroom Assessment

152

Adapting Learning Outcomes for Exceptional Students 152 Preparing Students for Classroom Tests 153 Adapting Classroom Tests During Test Construction 153 Adapting Administration of CiassroomTests 154 Adapting Marking of Classroom Tests 755 Using Adapted Performance Assessments 155 Portfolios as Classroom Assessments for Exceptional Learners Adaptations and Alternatives to Report Card Marks 157

Chapter 7

156

Climate, Community, and Classroom Management Introduction

161

163

Creatinga Community

163

Common Vision and Problem-Solving Teams 163 Parents, Teachers, and Students as Partners 164 Time for Collaboration and Joint Planning 164 Caring Relationships 164 Clear Language and Flexible Scheduling 165

Developing an Inclusive Climate

165

Making the Physical Space Efficient, Inviting, and Accessible 165 Teaching Norms for Classroom Interaction and Learning 166

Negotiating and Enforcing Classroom Rules and Procedures 168 Negotiating Rules 168 Key Aspects of Teaching Rules 168 Establishing Procedures 169 Monitoring Student Actions 169 Applying Consequences Consistently

170

Managing Behaviour in the Inclusive Classroom Increasing Appropriate Behaviour 1/771 Decreasing Undesirable Behaviour 173 Enhancing Self-Management 176 Positive Behavioural Supports and Classroom Management Harsh Punishments and Inappropriate Punishments 179

Chapter 8

Enhancing Social Relations Introduction

170

178

182

184

The Importance of Social Development and Social Acceptance

tolnclusion 184 Perspectives of Exceptional Students on Their Peer Relations

184 CONTENTS

Perspectives of Peers on Social Relations with Exceptional Classmates

185

The Role of Friendship in the Development of Exceptional Individuals 189 Elementary and Secondary Schools as Social Environments 190 Informal Teaching: Climate and Role Models 190 Facilitating Friendships 190 Safe Schools Strategy 192 Schoolwide Approaches and Teachers’Roles 193 Schoolwide Behaviour Management Systems 194

Using the ADAPT Strategy to Analyze Social Demands in the Classroom: Peer Teaching and Collaborative Learning 197 PeerTeaching

19/7

Using Co-Operative and Collaborative Learning to Meet Academic

and Social Goals 197 Planning for Formal Teaching of Collaboration Teaching Students to Collaborate 199 Challenges to Collaborative Learning 199

The Community and Social Relations Conclusion

Glossary

203

208

References Name Index

Subject Index

x

CONTENTS

221 237

242

198

200

Preface We hope this book helps you to challenge your assumptions about including exceptional students while it helps you to find ways to teach and include all the students in your classes. Canadians have embraced inclusion, but writing this book has reminded us of the incredible challenges facing parents, educators, employers, and exceptional individuals in making inclusion a reality. Our hope in writing this book is that it may serve as a research-based, practically-focused resource on inclusive education for teachers and teacher educators in Ontario additional qualification courses. Whenever possible, we have used Ontario and Canadian examples and, at times, may be guilty of citing Canadian research without including references to major research programs in other countries. We hope that the extensive listings of Canadian books, websites, and programs will help teacher educators, teachers, and parents to locate our resources and our experts, of which there are many.

Perspective All the years we have taught at Queen’s University, we have organized our courses about exceptional learners around topics such as planning, classroom organization and climate, collaborating with parents, and differentiating teaching and assessment—a non-categorical approach. We are constantly reminded, as we work in the university and in our community, of how much is expected of classroom teachers. And we believe that, to meet these expectations, teachers must think about the range of individuals in the class from their first thoughts about planning to their final reflections about the lesson, the unit, and the term or school year. The question to ask is not, “How do I

individualize for each student?” but rather, “How do I differentiate to include all my students?” That is the perspective we have taken in this book. We have focused on the information, skills, and strategies that we have seen effective teachers using in inclusive classrooms, and have tried to present these ideas in a way that is thought-provoking as well as practical. It has been important to us to acknowledge that the challenges and dilemmas of practice are different in elementary and secondary panels and to provide examples from both panels in diverse contexts, including urban environments, suburban schools, small rural schools, and Aboriginal communities.

Organization This textbook is informally divided into two sections. The first four chapters provide fundamental background knowledge in the field of exceptional education in Ontario and beyond. Chapter 1 describes the current situation in Ontario and sets our expetience in the context of the other provinces. As well as a brief history of how we came to be where we are, the opening chapter includes a step-by-step strategy for differentiating or adapting teaching and assessment called ADAPT, that will help you to meet the needs of exceptional learners. Chapter 2 describes the role of the classroom teacher in the education of exceptional students and the kinds of collaborations that teachers forge with parents, educational assistants, and other professionals.

Chapter 3 focuses on teaching students with six high-incidence exceptionalities

(from giftedness to learning disabilities). Teaching students with low-incidence exceptionalities and a range of health conditions is the focus of Chapter 4.

xi

The second section of the book presents the focus of any course on inclusive practices: instructional approaches that emphasize teaching all students effectively regardless of their exceptionality or special education needs. Chapter 5 provides strategies for differentiating teaching and Chapter 6 describes approaches to adapting assessment. We have included many examples representing a range of grades, exceptionalities, and teaching subjects. Chapter 7 focuses on the climate, organization, and management of inclusive classrooms, while in Chapter 8 you will find information on enhancing social relations of exceptional students. The Conclusion turns the focus from exceptional learners to you, the teacher, and to how you can survive and thrive on the challenges of including exceptional learners.

Features This book offers the following features designed to help readers learn effectively: » Current information specific to teaching exceptional learners and learners with special education needs in elementary and secondary schools in Ontario. a Chapter opening vignettes and vignettes throughout the chapters to help readers relate the chapter content to the challenges of teaching in Ontario schools. Learner objectives at the beginning of each chapter point to key content. Key terms throughout the chapters appear in boldface type.

Chapter summaries highlight important information. Margin notations are designed to extend readers’ thinking by introducing weblinks, resources, challenges, and applications to practice.

= Focus boxes introduce readers to inspiring Canadian families, schools, programs, and educators. a Theory and Research Highlights in Educational Psychology boxes provide theoretical grounding in the psychology that informs the teaching and inclusion of exceptional learners in Ontario schools. a Challenge boxes at the end of each chapter offer review questions to help students consolidate and apply what has been learned.

Ontario and Canadian references throughout help students locate practical supports, resources, Ontario Ministry of Education documents, research, teaching materials,

people, and websites within the exceptional education community.

Student Supplements

fiyeducationlab) FA

MyEducationLab is a completely interactive, research-based learning website that brings teaching to life. Through authentic in-class video footage, interactive simulations, rich case studies, examples of authentic teacher and student work, and

lesson-building tools, MyEducationLab prepares you for your teaching career by showing what quality instruction looks like. COURSESMART

FOR

STUDENTS

CourseSmart goes beyond traditional expectations by providing instant, online access to the textbooks and course materials you need at an average savings of 50 percent. With instant access from any computer and the ability to search your text, youll find the content you need quickly, no matter where you are. And with xii

PREFACE

online tools like highlighting and note-taking, you can save time and study efficiently. See all the benefits at www.coursesmart.com/students.

Instructor Supplements INSTRUCTOR’S

MANUAL

Instructors can log onto Pearson Education Canada’s password-protected online catalogue (http://vig.pearsoned.ca) to access the Instructor’s Manual for this book. Each chapter of the Instructor’s Manual includes an overview outline, teaching ideas, activities, and discussion questions. COURSESMART

FOR

INSTRUCTORS

CourseSmart goes beyond traditional expectations by providing instant, online access to the textbooks and course materials you need at a lower cost for students. And even as students save money, you can save time and hassle with a digital eTextbook that allows you to search for the most relevant content at the very moment you need it. Whether it’s evaluating textbooks or creating lecture notes to help students with difficult concepts, CourseSmart can make life a little easier. See how when you visit www.coursesmart.com/instructors.

Acknowledgments Many people have contributed to the completion of this project, making it possible for us to name only a few of them. We wish to thank our supportive families and friends. Nancy is especially grateful to all the gang—Hugh, Jenny, Deb, Jim, and Sandy—no one could ask for a more supportive and fun-loving family. And to her friends, especially Linda Greenwood, who has always been there. Andrea thanks her children, Jocelyn and Nicholas, for their ongoing encouragement and her stalwart circle of friends, particularly Margaret Harrison, Judy Durocher, and Cheryl McKercher, for their constant support. Outstanding graduate students have worked on many projects that have contributed to this book, most recently Connie Taylor, Jenn Dods, CJ Dalton, Jenn deLugt, and Michelle Villeneuve. Many thanks to the professionals at Pearson Education Canada who have seen us through the challenges and the exhilarations—to Cliff Newman who first set Nancy on this road, and to David LeGallais, Brian Simons, Dina Theleritis and

Sanchita Massey our copy editors and Mohinder Singh, our project manager at Aptara, for their outstanding service. We especially want to thank Rema Celio and Deanne Walle at Pearson for their timely assistance. Finally, thank you to all the pre-service and in-service teachers who have inspired us and to all the exceptional students and their families for whom this book is really written. May we continue to work together to reach our high ideals for including exceptional children in Canadian society by making them valued and full members of our classrooms. Nancy L. Hutchinson Andrea kK. Martin Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada June 2010 PREFACE

xiii

Life as a Teacher One teacher's perspective: “| wish | had been made more knowledgeable about and sensitive to the realities of teaching real kids in a real school.” Seymour B. Sarason (You are Thinking of Teaching? Opportunities, Problems, Realities, 1993, p. xii)

In Canada in the early twenty-first century, being a classroom teacher means that you are certain to have exceptional children or adolescents in your classes. This is because, as a country, we have made a commitment to the inclusion and participation of persons with disability in Canadian society. This commitment is expressed in federal and provincial legislation and supported by many court decisions in the past few years. Canadians, including educators and employers, repeatedly express that, while they support inclusion and want to treat everyone fairly, they simply don’t know enough about disabilities and about the changes that must be made in schools, workplaces, and the rest of society.

Our intent in writing this book has been to help you and your fellow educators to access the information you need to be confident and competent when you teach in inclusive classrooms. And to remind you that a number of recent studies point to the same conclusion: many of the teaching approaches used to increase the learning of students with disabilities also increase the learning of students who are low achievers, average achievers, or gifted (e.g., Baker et al., 2002; Montague &

Applegate, 2000; King-Sears, 2008). These teaching approaches represent a paradigm shift from educators’ earlier beliefs that “one size fits all” to ensuring that variety and flexibility for diverse learners, including exceptional learners, are built into instructional design, delivery, and assessment. We would never say that such approaches are without dilemmas or that we have all the research we need to inform our teaching decisions. However, a host of researchers from Ontario and throughout Canada are members of the international research community that has focused intently on advancing our understanding of the issues associated with these approaches to teaching. You will meet these researchers and their work in the pages of this book. You are a member of the teaching profession at an exciting time for advances in practice and research in the field of inclusion.

The Role of Classroom Teachers Schools and classroom teachers have a pivotal role in the creation of an inclusive society. First, unlike other institutions, schools are legally responsible for preparing children and adolescents with disabilities to participate meaningfully as educated adults in a democratic society. This means that as teachers we are expected to Xiv

teach exceptional children and adolescents the same kinds of knowledge and skills that we teach all other students, but in ways that are meaningful to them. Second,

schools have a legislated responsibility to prepare all children and adolescents to participate in an inclusive society and to accept individuals with disabilities as peers, co-workers, employees, employers, etc. This responsibility follows from one of the primary purposes of public education: preparing citizens to live in the democratic society that we have shaped, with its values, laws, and high expectations for participation. It is important for you as an individual teacher to remember that you are nei-

ther the cause nor the solution to all the problems that arise in your classroom. Crucial to your surviving and thriving as an educator is judicious and frequent use of the resources available to support classroom teachers and their exceptional students, the focus of much of this book. We encourage you to think of your advancement as inseparable from the advancement of the collective of educators in your school, your board, and the province. Seeing yourself as part of a collective and learning to collaborate are essential to your effectiveness and to your wellbeing as an inclusive educator.

The Place of Inclusion

in Canadian Society In Canada inclusive education is an issue within the context of Canadian society, not just within the context of Canadian schools. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees rights for minorities and specifically names persons with disabilities. It also specifies responsibilities of the Canadian government, of provincial governments like Ontario’s, and of institutions to ensure that these rights are attained and maintained. On June 13, 2005, the government passed the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

(ODA, 2005) which has recently come into

force with provisions to ensure a barrier-free Ontario—including physical barriers, attitudinal barriers, and barriers to accessing information. Thus in Ontario and throughout Canada, inclusion is closely related to equity, and inclusion of exceptional learners follows from our commitment to equitable treatment guaranteed in the Charter and in subsequent legislation like ODA. Inclusive schools are a natural part of inclusive society, and equitable treatment of students regardless of (dis)ability is closely related to equitable treatment of students regardless of gender, race, and so on. In Ontario, and elsewhere in Canada, if we choose to teach, we are

choosing to teach in inclusive settings.

Dilemmas

in Inclusive

Schools

Dilemmas are a constant and pressing feature of teachers’ lives (Berlak & Berlak, 1989; Norwich, 2008). Rarely do we get through a day of inclusive teaching without confronting some kind of dilemma. Many of these may look, at first analysis, like they are only decisions about teaching methods. However, upon critical examination, they frequently turn out to have ethical implications. Do I allow a student’s insensitive comment

to an exceptional classmate to go unanswered? How

much time do I spend differentiating teaching for two students, one with a physical disability and another who is gifted, when | know I have not spent enough time INTRODUCTION

XV

thinking about the learning outcomes of the core activity? How far can I push my commitment to every student participating in hands-on learning when some can only complete the activities with so much assistance that, by the time they have finished, they feel more helpless than empowered? How much adaptation of assessment is fair, and why is it easier for us and our students to accept these changes for blind students than for students with learning disabilities? The reality is that we live on the horns of complex ethical dilemmas every day of our teaching lives (Brookfield, 1995) and that these dilemmas are only intensified by our commit-

ment in Canada to an inclusive society and inclusive classrooms.

Voices Throughout this book, you will hear the voices of exceptional learners, their parents, and teachers who are working together to enhance the learning experiences of exceptional students in regular classrooms. We hope that their words will strengthen your resolve and inspire you to use all the resources available to you to meet the challenges of inclusive teaching.

Xvi

INTRODUCTION

Spec

la l Educat 10n in O Sc 4 (qe)Wa10

Where We Are Now ee Nog

7

7

a

Introduction Gurjit and Ben are two of the approximately 200 000 exceptional learners in Ontario schools. You will probably find students like Gurjit and Ben in every class you teach because learning disabilities and giftedness are common exceptionalities. On occasion, you will teach students with less common exceptionalities, including students who are deaf or blind. You will find that kids like Gurjit and Ben are similar to other students in most ways. They are children or adolescents, like all others,

who happen to have exceptionalities. This chapter introduces you to the Ontario context in which we educate exceptional students. The discussion focuses on the current state of inclusion of persons with disabilities and of inclusive education, and introduces an overview of policies across the country, historical and legal roots, and controversies. Throughout, we are

concerned with how you can help exceptional students reach their potential by responsive teaching and differentiated instruction. The chapter includes Ontario categories and definitions of exceptionalities, and introduces the ADAPT strategy for differentiating or adapting teaching to include a wide range of exceptional learners.

Exceptional Education in Ontario Ontario defines an exceptional student as a “pupil whose behavioural, communication, intellectual, physical or multiple exceptionalities are such that he or she is considered to need placement in a special education program” (Ontario Education Act, subsection 1(1)). Students are identified according to the categories and defi-

nitions of exceptionalities (which include giftedness) that are provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education (see Figure 1.1). A special education program, in turn, means, “in respect of an exceptional pupil, an educational program that is based on and modified by the results of continuous assessment and evaluation and that includes a plan containing specific objectives and an outline of educational services that meets the needs of the exceptional pupil” (subsection 1(1)). This Individual Educational Plan (IEP) and the special education services that it includes refer to the “facilities and resources, including support personnel and equipment, necessary for developing and implementing a special education program” (subsection 1(1)). Once a student has been identified as exceptional (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2000a), he or she is then entitled to an adapted or differentiated education program. According to Ontario guidelines (2000a, 2000b, 2004), these adaptations are divided

into three types: accommodations,

modifications,

Weblinks SPECIAL NEEDS OPPORTUNITY WINDOWS

(SNOW)

http://snow.utoronto.ca

COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN www.cec.sped.org PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA

+ www.publichealth.gc.ca

and alternative

learning expectations. Accommodations refer to changes to how a student is taught, which may involve instructional accommodations, environmental accommodations, and assessment accommodations. In each case, the student is still learning

from the grade-level curriculum. Instructional accommodations refer to changes in teaching strategies that allow the student access to the curriculum (e.g., visual cues, cognitive strategy instruction, use of interpreters, or different formats like Braille or books on tape). Environmental accommodations involve changes to the classroom or school environment (e.g., using sound field systems to improve the listening and learning environment, using wall coverings to baffle sound, or preferential seating for a visually impaired student). Assessment accommodations involve

changes needed for a student to demonstrate learning (e.g., highlighting the important words in a question on a test). CHAPTER

1 SPECIAL

EDUCATION

IN ONTARIO: WHERE

WE ARE NOW

3

FIGURE ie) fu

4

INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS

fa *

IN ONTARIO

1.1

ONTARIO

CATEGORIES

Oo i) OQ,Ee ° Z