Special Education

Parent's Guide to Individual Education Planning

I. Introduction: The Individual Learner's Potential

All parents want their children "to develop their individual potential," to becomes the best they can be. As parents and as a society, we help children achieve this goal through education that meets their needs as individuals, as the Ministry of Education, Skills and Training mission statement specifies.

If children are gifted, or have special talents or abilities, their educational programs must ensure they continue to be challenged in their learning.
If children have disabilities, their programs need to respond to their particular learning needs.

The BC School Act ² requires a school board to make an educational program available to all persons of school age who live and enroll in schools in the district. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) identifies any additions, changes and adaptations to the regular program that should be made for each individual child, to ensure that all students have an educational program that meets their specific needs.

² Ministry of Education. School Act. Province of British Columbia. Victoria, BC. 1995.

Students with special needs

A student with special needs³ has one or more of the following:

a disability of an intellectual, physical, sensory, emotional or behavioural nature,
a learning disability, or
exceptional gifts or talents.

Many students with special needs will be able to meet the standards set out in the provincial curriculum with adaptations to the way they are taught of their learning is assessed. For some students, the prescribed curriculum outcomes are modified to meet the students' special needs. Both adaptations and modifications must be outlined in the IEP.

The IEP is developed to meet the student's educational needs. It becomes, as its name suggests, a plan to enable the student to develop her individual potential.

³ Order of the Minister of Education. Province of British Columbia. Ministerial Order M397/95. Formerly 150/89. Amended effective September 1, 1995.

Identifying special needs

Your child may be identified as having special needs prior to entering school. If your child has been in a pre-school program, information about that program can give the school a head start in planning. Contact the school well in advance to begin planning for your child's educational program.

Sometimes special needs are not identified until children have been in school for a while and teachers have had a chance to work with them. Teachers or specialist personnel at the school may conduct an assessment to better understand your child's strengths and needs. An assessment report may be written and will be shared with parents, teachers, and perhaps the student. Then, if appropriate, the school will develop an IEP for your child in consultation with you.

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