Directorate of Ontario

Ontario’s Relative Position

Download 1.92 Mb.

Page	5/35
Date	26.04.2017
Size	1.92 Mb.
	#16584

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 35

12

Ontario’s Relative Position

Background on Accessibility in Ontario

Regulatory Requirements and Standards

As described in the Introduction section of this report, Ontario’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) provides accessibility standards for both private and public sectors, with a goal to make Ontario accessible by 2025. The accessibility standards in Ontario include Customer Service, Information and Communications, Employment, Transportation and Design of Public Spaces.

Ontario school boards are required to develop and maintain a special education plan outlining programs and services offered, to establish a Special Education Advisory Committee, and to participate in a Board’s annual review of its special education plan, annual budget and financial statements. Under the AODA, school boards are also required to complete an accessibility plan.

Post-secondary institutions must ensure that their facilities and services are accessible, that appropriate, effective and dignified accommodation processes are in place, and that students who require accommodations because of their disabilities are accommodated to the point of undue hardship. The AODA, also requires post-secondary institutions to complete an accessibility plan. Educators at the post-secondary level are responsible for participating in the accommodation process (including the provision of specific accommodations), being knowledgeable about and sensitive to disability issues, and maintaining student confidentiality.¹

In addition to the AODA and the accessibility standards, other regulations and standards that apply to making education more accessible to persons with disabilities include:

Ontario Human Rights Code: The Ontario Human Rights Code guarantees the right to equal treatment in education, without discrimination on the grounds of disability, as part of the protection for equal treatment in services. Education providers have a duty to accommodate students with disabilities up to the point of undue hardship. Students with disabilities are not always being provided with appropriate accommodation, and, in some cases, are falling victim to disputes between the various parties responsible for accommodation. The accommodation process is a shared responsibility. Each party has a duty to co-operatively engage in the process, share information, and canvass potential accommodation solutions.²

The Education Act: Under the Education Act, the Ministry of Education is responsible for setting out a process for identifying and accommodating disability-related needs in the publicly-funded elementary and secondary school systems. The Ministry must ensure that all exceptional pupils can access special education programs and services without payment of fees. The Ministry is responsible for funding levels and structures, legislating procedures, and creating appeal and monitoring mechanisms. The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities is responsible for providing similar educational services at the post-secondary level. Furthermore, the act designates school principals as responsible for referring exceptional students to a committee for identification and placement, for preparing an individual education plan for each exceptional student, and for communicating board policies and procedures to staff, students and parents. Teachers are responsible for participating in the accommodation process, assessing students’ progress, and communicating with parents. All education providers are required to investigate accommodation solutions and grant accommodation requests in a timely manner.³

Policies and Programs

There are a number of policies and programs in Ontario to support accessibility in the education sector for those living with disabilities. These have been grouped into five categories.

Primary and Secondary Public Education

For primary and secondary education, the Education Act and its accompanying regulations set out a structure for the identification and accommodation of disability-related needs in Ontario’s publicly funded primary and secondary school system.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for ensuring that all exceptional children in Ontario have special education programs and services made available to them, without payment of fees. The Ministry is further responsible for requiring school boards to implement procedures for identifying student needs, and for setting standards for identification procedures. The Act defines exceptional pupils as those “whose behavioural, communicational, intellectual, physical or multiple exceptionalities are such that he or she is considered to need placement in a special education program”.

The principal of a school may, by his or her own decision or at the request of a parent, refer a child to an Identification and Placement Review Committee (IPRC) for a decision as to whether or not the child is exceptional, and if so, whether the child should be placed in a regular classroom with supports, or in a special education class. In making these decisions, the IPRC shall consider educational, health and psychological assessments, as well as information submitted by the parents. The IRPC can also interview the student. Where placement in a regular classroom would meet the child’s needs and is consistent with parental preferences, the IPRC must place the child in the regular classroom.

The IPRC also has the power to make recommendations about special education programs and services for the student, but does not have decision-making power in this respect. Parents may appeal the decision of an IPRC regarding a determination of exceptionality, or the placement of a student. Recommendations regarding programs and services cannot be appealed.

Individualized Education Plans

If the decision of the IPRC is not appealed, the principal of the school which the student will attend is notified to prepare an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for the student. IEPs include the personalized and specific educational expectations for the student, balancing accommodation of a student with high academic goals. An IEP is a written plan describing the special education program and/or services required by a particular student, based on a thorough assessment of the student's strengths and needs that affect the student's ability to learn and demonstrate learning. A student's IEP must typically have a direct progress reporting link to the Provincial Report Card.

In some cases, a student's program will include, in part or in whole, expectations derived from an alternative program (such as social skills, communication, and behaviour management) as described in an IEP.

For students aged 14 and over, the IEP must also contain a plan for transition to appropriate post-secondary school activities. In developing the plan, the principal must consult with the student’s parent (or with the student directly, if 16 years of age or older), and must take into consideration any recommendations made through the IPRC process.⁴⁵

Transition Planning

Transition planning is a policy to help prepare students with disabilities to successfully move from secondary education into life after high school. As part of the Individual Education Plan, a plan for the student's transition from secondary school to a postsecondary setting must be developed with input from the student, parent(s)/guardian(s), the principal, school staff, community agencies, and postsecondary institutions, as appropriate. For children with special needs, entry to school is more complex and requires careful planning and coordination. An entry-to-school plan should provide adequate time for children and parents to learn and practice the skills and routines that will facilitate a smooth move from preschool to school. The goal of planning for entry to school is to help children adjust quickly to the school setting, enjoy learning and develop a positive attitude towards education. A good start to school improves a child's chances of success from school entry to graduation.⁶

Public School Funding

For funding accommodation, the Foundation Grant, gives every school board a basic level of funding for each student. Additional funding is provided through special purpose grants, including a Special Education Grant, based on specific costs or needs that affect some boards and some students more than others. The operation and maintenance of school buildings and the construction of new schools or additions are funded through the Pupil Accommodation Grant.

Special Education Grants (SEG) are intended to cover the incremental costs of special education programs and services. Special Education Grants include both a per-pupil amount, based on overall enrolment, and an Intensive Support Amount, which is intended to recognize differences among boards in the incidence of students with special needs. The SEG includes six components – the Special Education Per-Pupil Amount, the High Needs Amount, the Special Equipment Amount, the Special Incidence Portion, the Behaviour Expertise Amount, and the Facilities Amount.⁷ Grants are claimed by boards based on specific eligibility criteria.⁸

Post-Secondary Institutions

For post-secondary education, accommodation of students with disabilities is not subject to the same detailed legislative structures as at the primary and secondary levels; students have a greater responsibility to advocate for themselves.⁹ Nevertheless, post-secondary institutions have developed a range of policies in order to meet these obligations. In Ontario, most post-secondary institutions appear to provide some specialized facilities, policies, equipment or services for students with disabilities. All colleges and universities have an office for students with disabilities, or a disability services office. Again, responsibility is with the student to contact staff at the office, identify his or herself as a student with a disability and work with staff to determine the type of accommodation needed.¹⁰

Grants and Loans for Students with Disabilities

Grants and loans that are used to support equal access for persons with disabilities in the education sector in Ontario include the following:

Grant / Loan	Description
Bursary for Students with Disabilities	This bursary provides up to $2,000 per academic year for students with permanent or temporary disabilities who require education-related services or equipment, such as tutors, note-takers, interpreters, braillers, or technical aids that are directly related to their disability. To be eligible for the BSWD, a student must: Have applied and are eligible for OSAP for Full-Time Students and have at least $1 in calculated Ontario need; or Have applied and are eligible for OSAP for Part-Time Students and are receiving an Ontario Part-Time Grant; or Have applied and are eligible for an Institution-Funded Special Bursary. Students must also have: Have a permanent or temporary disability; and Have disability-related educational costs (e.g. note-takers, vision/learning aids) that result from your disability and are not covered by another agency.¹¹
Ontario Out of Country Bursary for Deaf Students	The bursary assists deaf, deafened, and hard-of-hearing students with the cost of attending a postsecondary school outside of Canada where the only or primary language of instruction for their program is American Sign Language (ASL) or Langues de Signes Québécoises (Quebec Sign Language). The value of the bursary varies depending on the student's eligible costs considered.¹²
Repayment Assistance Plan for Borrowers with a Permanent Disability	Borrowers with a permanent disability may apply for repayment assistance. The Plan helps borrowers with permanent disabilities are helped to pay off their loans in 10 years.¹³
Severe Permanent Disability Benefit	The Province of Ontario may forgive your Ontario Student Loan if you have a severe permanent disability that prevents you from participating in the labour force or postsecondary studies.¹⁴

Comparison to other Jurisdictions

Overall, Ontario appears to be comparable or ahead of other jurisdictions examined as it relates to regulatory requirements and standards to help make education more accessible to persons with disabilities. Other Canadian provinces have their own Education Acts, which outline the requirements to accommodate special needs and implement Individualized Education Plans. Most other jurisdictions have regulations that require the accommodation of students with disabilities in schools, including that they attend regular classes with other students. Ontario is further comparable in offering grant and loans, in order to provide students with assistance in covering additional costs to education that their disability may bring.

There are programs in other provinces and jurisdictions, however, which do stand out. What is not clear, is how these practices play out in delivery. As will be demonstrated in the Section 4 of the report on barriers to accessibility, although there are regulations and policies in place in Ontario and its peer jurisdictions, these standards are not always delivered as intended. There are reports of schools receiving insufficient funding for accommodating special needs, poor transition planning, and a lack of feeling welcome at school. Despite regulations and policies in place to ensure high standards of accommodation in education, there are reported gaps in ensuring the delivery of these standards are at the level intended.

Regulatory Requirements and Standards

As it relates to regulations and standards, two key themes have been identified when comparing Ontario to other jurisdictions. These are school attendance and web accessibility.

School Attendance:

Most other jurisdictions have similar regulations to Ontario, requiring the accommodation of students with disabilities that allow them to attend mainstream schools and classes. Some jurisdictions, however, have a stronger focus on offering special schools to support students’ specific needs.

In British Columbia, an inclusive education system is promoted, in which students with special needs are fully participating members of a community of learners. 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 educational programs. The practice of inclusion is not necessarily synonymous with full integration in regular classrooms, and goes beyond placement to include meaningful participation and the promotion of interaction with others.

A school board must provide a student who has special needs with an educational program in a classroom where the student is integrated with other students who do not have special needs, unless the educational needs of the student with special needs or other students indicate that the educational program for the student with special needs should be provided otherwise. Students with special needs may be placed in settings other than a neighbourhood school classroom with age and grade competitors. This should only be done when the school board has made all reasonable efforts to integrate the student.

In Sweden, all children who are blind or visually impaired without severe additional disabilities are taught in mainstream compulsory schools. The Swedish Education Act stipulates that children have the right to special support in order to develop and receive an education based on equality, participation, accessibility and companionship. Local authorities are bound by law to provide a number of basic services, of which the provision of childcare and pre-school, compulsory and upper-secondary education are a major part. Municipalities are free to use collected taxes and state funding for whatever services and systems are deemed to be best for their respective areas. Many municipalities delegate budgets directly to individual schools.

In Germany, the education of children with disabilities is not a federal but a state responsibility. As a result, only some states have adopted co-education of children with or without disabilities in schools. Due to Germany's decentralised educational system, the federal states deal with pupils with special needs in slightly differing ways. In general, each state has a range of special schools covering a variety of special needs, from mental and social to physical disorders, at primary and secondary levels. The difference with Germany, is Germany appears to be less focused on having children with disabilities be a part of mainstream classes. Instead, different states offer a variety of specialty schools to support children’s’ educational needs.

Web Accessibility

Like Ontario, other jurisdictions are focusing on web accessibility as an essential component to access to education. In order to have the same levels of education, students must be able to access the same amounts of information, materials, and opportunities to do additional research. As information continues to be primarily offered on the internet and this continues to grow and becomes the main source of information, students with disabilities risk falling behind their peers if they cannot access the same content.

In California, the California Department of Education (CDE) adopted its first set of web accessibility standards in 2001, which were based almost entirely on the Version 1.0 Checkpoints from the W3C WCAG. In 2003, the State of California enacted Government Code (GC) Section 11135, requiring all of its agencies and departments to comply with federal Section 50.
In Arizona, the Arizona Department of Administration – Arizona Strategic Enterprise Technology Office has implemented a policy for web accessibility. The office develops, implements and maintains a coordinated state wide plan for information technology, including, adopting state wide technical, coordination, and IT policy and standards.
In Australia, equal access to the internet for people with a disability is required by the DDA, where it can reasonably be provided. This requirement applies to any individual or organization developing a website or other web resource in Australia, or placing or maintaining a web resource on an Australian server. This includes web pages and other resources developed or maintained for purposes related to employment; education; provision of services including professional services, banking, insurance or financial services, entertainment or recreation, telecommunications services, public transport services, or government services.
In Prince Edward Island, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 defines how to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Web accessibility involves accommodating a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities.

Policies and Programs

Again, Ontario appears to be comparable or better than other jurisdictions as it relates to policies and strategic initiatives to help make education more accessible to persons with disabilities. Similar to Ontario, other jurisdictions have accessibility plans, disability strategies and action plans and equal access policies in place.

Individualized Education Plans

Other Canadian provinces, under their own provincial School and Education Acts, outline the requirements for students with disabilities to have Individualized Education Plans.
In British Columbia, 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. An IEP must have one or more of the following:

The goals or outcomes set for that student for that school year where they are different from the learning outcomes set out in an applicable educational program guide; or

A list of the support services required to achieve goals established for the student; or

A list of the adaptations to educational materials, instructional strategies or assessment methods.

An IEP should also include the following:

The present levels of educational performance of the student;

The setting where the educational program is to be provided;

The names of all personnel who will be providing the educational program and the support services for the student during the school year;

The period of time and process for review of the IEP;

Evidence of evaluation or review, which could include revisions made to the plan and the tracking of achievement in relation to goals; and

Plans for the next transition point in the student's education (including transitions beyond school completion).

In Nunavut, the school system’s goal is to achieve inclusive education of all students. The challenge has been and continues to be to support effectively the learning of all students but particularly those who, because of special physical, emotional, social and intellectual needs, require extra assistance and support to achieve their learning goals.
Children with special needs have the right to be in a regular class with children their own age and in their own community. Extra supports such as student support assistants, Individual Education Plans, and specialists provided through Health are available. Nunavut’s Individual Education Plan is developed for students who are unable to access the approved curricula. The competencies are determined in accordance with the student‘s needs. Courses taken on an IEP are identified on the student‘s transcript.

Transition Planning

Other jurisdictions internationally focus on specifically tailored transition plans, to support children as they transition through stages of development. These transition plans typically take a holistic approach, involving parents, teachers, the students, as well as officials from the healthcare and education divisions of government. This analysis finds Ontario to be comparable to other jurisdictions’ transition policies.
The United States has implemented Secondary Transition Coordinators to support transition planning. Secondary transition specialists typically begin working with students when they reach age 16, although the transition planning process may begin earlier if determined appropriate by the IEP team, or required by state law. The coordinator, in consultation with the entire IEP team, works with the student to identify his or her preferences and goals.
In Australia, transition planning is outlined in the program Effective Transition Planning for Secondary School Students with Disability. A National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) Program targets the barriers that people with disability face in successfully accessing and completing post-school education and training and subsequent employment. NDCOs can provide practical assistance and advice to individuals with disability and their families, education and training providers, as well as employment and community support agencies.

Students leaving public education with a disability, who want to pursue post-secondary education, have additional supports in gaining access to post-secondary education. Students applying for University for the Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS).

Futures for Young Adults (FFYA) program provides support to students with a disability who need additional assistance to make the transition to post-school options. The program is available to eligible students from when they complete school until they turn 21.

In Manitoba, the Early Childhood Transition to School for Children with Special Needs and Child Care Inclusion Support Program supports the initial transition into primary school. The Child Care Inclusion Support Program funds child care centres, nursery schools, and family and group child care homes to reduce or eliminate barriers to allow a child with additional support needs to fully participate in an early learning and child care program.

Grants and Loans for Students with Disabilities

Other Canadian provinces offer similar grants and loans for students with disabilities pursuing post-secondary education. A combination of provincial and federal student loan programs all offer:

Canada Student Loans for Students with Permanent Disabilities: For full-time funding: students must be enrolled in at least 40 percent of a full course load; and for part-time funding: students must be enrolled in between 20 percent to 39 percent of a full course load.

Repayment Assistance Plan for Borrowers with Permanent Disabilities (RAP-PD): On loans covered by RAP-PD, students will not make loan payments exceeding 20 percent of their income. In some cases, students will not have to make any loan payments until their income increases.

Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities: Under this grant, students with permanent disabilities may receive $2,000 per academic year to help cover the costs of accommodation, tuition, and books.

Within Canada and internationally, there are funding programs to support the educational development of students with disabilities from early ages through to employment.

New Brunswick has a program that provides funding for persons with a disability for a variety of services or supports. The Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL) Program offers:

Employment training – includes tuition, books, tutors, living expenses, and training supplies (some of these items are only covered if they have a disability-related component – for example, converting text to Braille).

Employment support – includes job search, job coaching, support workers, counselling, entrepreneurial planning, and work-site modifications.

Adaptive and assistive – includes technologies, tools and equipment, ergonomic aids, specialized transportation, and assessment.

Job crisis – includes various job crisis intervention services.¹⁵

New York has the Program Development Grant to Prepare Students with Disabilities to Exit School with Work Readiness Skills. This grant is a competitive program to provide funding for schools to enhance their instructional programs to increase students with disabilities’ access to and participation in career and technical education (CTE) coursework.

The United Kingdom offers the Disabled Students' Allowances. These funds provide extra financial help if a student has an impairment, health condition (including mental health conditions) or a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia. It is paid on top of the standard student finance package and don't have to be repaid. Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) helps students pay for extra costs they have on course because of disability. The components are:

Specialist equipment - maximum GBP 5, 212 per course for full and part-time students.

Non-medical helpers - maximum GBP 20, 725 per academic year of the course. For part-time students the allowance depends upon the percentage of study in relation to the full-time equivalent course.

The maximum part-time amount that can be claimed per year is GBP 15, 543.

Other and general expenditure - maximum GBP 1, 741 per academic year of the course. For part-time students this allowance depends upon the percentage studied of the full-time course. The maximum amount that can be claimed part-time is GBP 1, 305.

Disability-related travel costs – there are no maximum amounts.

Directory: strong-effective-aoda
strong-effective-aoda -> Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance

Download 1.92 Mb.

Share with your friends:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 35

Directorate of Ontario

Ontario’s Relative Position

12