Teams are designed to suit the specific needs within the school, using the individual resources and skills of the school staff responding to local conditions. Formal guidelines for the team’s membership, meeting times and procedures for recording and reporting on its activities may be established.
In most schools, the core members of the team would include:
- the principal or vice-principal
- the school special education resource teacher (if available)
- a guidance teacher-counsellor (especially at the secondary level), and possibly the teacher-advisor
- the student’s current teacher and/or the “referring” teacher.
The team may also include board staff and professionals in the community who have expertise with the various exceptionalities and in such areas as speech and language development, psychology, physical and occupational therapy, social work, curriculum modification and ESL/ELD.
As circumstances require, the team may also seek assistance from outside resource people such as:
- parents and other family members
- community associations/agencies
- service providers from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (e.g. Community Care Access Centres, which coordinate service providers such as occupational therapists and hospital personnel)
- service providers from the Ministry of Community and Social Services (e.g. representatives from treatment centres).
The active involvement of parents enhances the effectiveness of the school team. Parents and students have important information to share with members of the school team and should be invited to meet with the team when necessary and appropriate. The support of parents has positive and pervasive effects on the child’s success in school, and parents should be encouraged to feel that their contribution is a valuable part of the school-team process.
- Suggested Steps
- Agree upon a tracking system for all required documentation and activities: e.g. consent forms, referral forms, student assessments and staff/parent debriefings afterwards, initial IPRCs, IEPs, IPRC reviews, ISA reporting. Clarify procedures for student referrals, gathering and presentation of relevant assessments, nature and monitoring of modifications.
- Arrange to meet regularly with the special education teacher co-ordinator for updates.
- Build positive relationships with students, parents and staff involved in special education.
- Clarify your own special education roles and responsibilities and those of members of the special needs team that serves your school, e.g. will there be regular team meetings; who communicates with homeroom/subject teachers.
- Clearly establish your own special education roles and responsibilities and those of the co-ordinator, e.g. who chairs IPRCs, tracks processes, communicates with parents.
- Communicate to all teachers what the expectations are for the teaching and assessment of students with an IEP.
- Consult with the special education professional resource team and individuals assigned to your school; for example, teacher diagnostician, psychometrist, psychiatrist, social worker, psychologist, speech-language pathologist, audiologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, child/youth worker, developmental assistant, behavioural consultants.
- Contact the co-ordinator/principal of special education at the board office.
- Ensure links between special education staff and programs and other school staff and programs; for example, the regular program, ESL/ELD programs and guidance services.
- Ensure that itinerant staff understand their reporting responsibilities under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act 2017.
- Familiarize yourself with the list of local community support services: agencies, advocates and associations related to various aspects of special education and exceptional students, as approved by the board.
- Inform itinerant professionals about events at the school. Send them the school newsletter, invite them to staff meetings and staff get-togethers, assign mailboxes, include them on electronic staff conferences, invite them to make presentations to staff and/or parents.
- Manage the expectations of staff and parents of exceptional students.
- Meet with all special education teachers and educational assistants for an overview of special education programs and services in the school.
- Obtain and record contact numbers of key team members (e.g. social workers) for use in an emergency during the day or after school hours.
- Review where the itinerant professionals work while at the school. Ensure that they have appropriate space to meet with students, parents and staff. Balance privacy with student protection.
- Exceptional Students
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- Find out if any IPRCs are pending from before your arrival.
- Review the OSRs and IEPs of all identified students.
- Review the list of all identified students in school and those with SEA support.
- Get to know individual exceptional students.
- Attend case conferences for individual students.
- Track the progress of exceptional students.
- Monitor the delivery of in-class program modifications as outlined in students’ IEPs.
- Ensure that the reporting of a student’s progress is consistent, regardless of format, i.e. IEP consistent with report card.
- Ensure that the report card aligns with IEP.
- Provide for in-service to meet identified needs of special education staff.
- Arrange for teachers and assistants to visit special education programs in other schools.
- Visit other schools yourself to observe classes and talk with principals about special education issues.