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Special Education

Students who have behavioural, communicational, intellectual, physical or multiple exceptionalities, may require special education programs and/or services to benefit fully from their school experience.

Special education programs and services primarily consist of instruction and assessments that are different from those provided to the general student population. These may take the form of accommodations (such as specific teaching strategies, preferential seating, and assistive technology) and/or an educational program that is modified from the age-appropriate grade level expectations in a particular course or subject, as outlined in the Ministry of Education's curriculum policy documents.

Overview

• An Introduction to Special Education in Ontario
• The Identification, Placement, and Review Committee
• The Individual Education Plan Process
• Transition Planning
• Ministry Support for Special Education
• Minister's Advisory Council on Special Education

Resolving Identification or Placement Issues

• Procedures for Parents/Guardians

Policy Direction

• The Education Act on Special Education
• Special Education Regulations
• Special Education Policy Documents
• Policy/Program Memoranda Concerning Special Education
• Funding for Special Education
• Standards for School Boards' Special Education Plans
• Individual Education Plans: Standards for Development, Program Planning, and Implementation

Resource Documents

In addition to policy documents, the ministry has published a number of resource documents to assist school boards in implementing policies and delivering high-quality special education programs and services.

• Special Education Funding Guidelines: Special Equipment Amount (SEA) and Special Incidence Portion (SIP), 2007-08 (PDF, 1.1 MB)
• Shared Solutions – A Guide to Preventing and Resolving Conflicts Regarding Programs and Services for Students with Special Education Needs
• Effective Educational Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Special Education Transformation: The Report of the Co-Chairs with the Recommendations of the Working Table on Special Education, 2006
• Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students with Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6, 2005
• Early School Leavers: Understanding the Lived Reality of Student Disengagement from Secondary School, 2005 (PDF, 973 KB)
• Planning Entry to School – A Resource Guide, 2005
• Guidelines 2005 – For Approval of Education Programs for Pupils in Government Approved Care and/or Treatment, Custody and Correctional Facilities
• The Individual Education Plan (IEP), A Resource Guide, 2004
• Transition Planning: A Resource Guide, 2002
• Special Education, A Guide for Educators, 2001
• Highlights of Regulation 181/98: Identification and Placement of Exceptional Pupils provides a summary of the key provisions of this regulation. Readers should refer to Regulation 181/98 itself rather than to this summary for the exact wording of the relevant sections.
• The Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) Information Program, developed by the ministry, assists SEAC members in undertaking the roles and responsibilities ascribed to them by legislation.
• Older Resource Documents

Related Information

• Minister's Advisory Council on Special Education
• Special Education Tribunals
• Special Needs Opportunity Windows (SNOW)
• Web Based Teaching Tool (WBTT)