Special Education Services: A Manual of Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

To ensure common ground, the definitions of critical terms used in this manual are being placed at the front of the document.

1. Adaptations: An education program with adaptations retains the learning outcomes of the regular curriculum, and is provided so the student can participate in the program. Adaptations are teaching and assessment strategies made to accommodate a student’s special needs, and may include alternate formats (e.g., Braille, books-on-tape), instructional strategies (e.g., use of interpreters, visual cues and aids) and assessment procedures (e.g., oral exams, additional time, assistive technologies). Students with education programs that include adaptations are assessed using the standards for the course/program and can receive credit toward a Dogwood certificate for their work.

2. Assessment is a systematic process of gathering information in order to make appropriate educational decisions for a student. It is a collaborative and progressive process designed to identify the student's strengths and needs, set goals, and results in the identification and implementation of selected educational strategies.

3. Collaborative consultation is a process in which people work together to solve a common problem or address a common concern. A successful collaborative process is characterized by the following features: it is voluntary; there is mutual trust and open communication among the people involved; identification/clarification of the problem to be addressed is a shared task; the goal is shared by all participants; each participant's contribution is valued equally; all participants' skills are employed in identifying and selecting problem-solving strategies; and there is shared responsibility for the program or strategy initiated.

4. A guardian of a person (in the wording of the School Act) "...when used in reference to a student or child, means guardian of the person of the student or child within the meaning of the Family Relations Act".

5. Inclusion describes the principle that all students are entitled to equitable access to learning, achievement and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of their education. The practice of inclusion is not necessarily synonymous with integration and goes beyond placement to include meaningful participation and the promotion of interaction with others.

6. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is a documented plan developed for a student with special needs that describes individualized goals, adaptations, modifications, the services to be provided, and includes measures for tracking achievement.

7. Integration is one of the major strategies used to achieve inclusion. With integration, students with special needs are included in educational settings with their peers who do not have special needs, and provided with the necessary accommodations determined on an individual basis, to enable them to be successful there. The principle of "placement in the most enabling learning environment" applies when decisions are made about the extent to which an individual student is placed in regular classrooms, or assigned to an alternate placement.

8. Mainstreaming is a term which was in use during the early years of the movement toward integration of students with special needs, but which has been replaced by the term "integration" (see definition for integration above).

9. A modified education program has learning outcomes that are substantially different from the regular curriculum, and specifically selected to meet the student's special needs. For example, a Grade 9 student in a modified math program could be focusing on functional computational skills in the context of handling money and personal budgeting. Or, in language arts, a Grade 5 student could be working on recognizing common signs and using the phone. In these examples the learning outcomes are substantially different from those of the curriculum for most other students. To enable achievement, a student's program may include some courses that are modified and others that have adaptations.

10. A neighbourhood school is the school that students would normally attend if they did not have special needs.

11. Parent (in the wording of the School Act) "...means, in respect of a student or of a child registered under section 13, a) the guardian of the person of the student or child; b) the person legally entitled to custody of the student or child; or c) the person who usually has the care and control of the student or child". (http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/legislation/schoollaw/revisedstatutescontents.pdf)

12. A school-based team is an on-going team of school-based personnel which has a formal role to play as a problem-solving unit in assisting classroom teachers to develop and implement instructional and/or management strategies and to co-ordinate support resources for students with special needs within the school.

13. Special educational needs are those characteristics which make it necessary to provide a student undertaking an educational program with resources different from those which are needed by most students. Special educational needs are identified during assessment of a student; they are the basis for determining an appropriate educational program (including necessary resources) for that student.

14. Transition is the passage of a student from one environment to another at key points in his or her development from childhood to adulthood.

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