Glossary of Terms

Assessments administered by the resource teacher:

Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills

· Provides assessment of student’s skills in readiness, language, reading, listening, speech and mathematics

· Results presented in grade equivalents

· Used to provide a beginning point of achievement and to measure academic growth over time to assist with making educational decisions for students encountering learning difficulties

· May be used prior to referral for Psychological testing

Canadian Achievement Test (CAT)

· A standardized test comparing an individual student with others of the same age on timed items

· May be administered as an individual or group test

· Standard rules for administration and scoring must be followed

· Measures academic achievement for students from Grade 2 to High School

· Many subtests may be used – reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, mathematics computation, mathematics concepts and applications most common

· Results presented in grade equivalents and percentiles

· Pre-requisite for students being referred for an initial IPRC

· CAT – 3, Level 14 is used as one component of the Enrichment Selection process

Canada QUIET

· An individual test designed to screen achievement in spelling, arithmetic, word identification and passage comprehension

· Results presented in statements ranging from well below average to well above average

KeyMath

· An individual test designed to measure performance in mathematics – basic concepts, operations and applications

· Results presented in grade equivalents and percentiles

 

Placements:

ABLE or Academics Based on Life Experiences

· Secondary School placement for students identified as exceptional and in need of a special program due to intellectual and academic needs

· Focus on functional academics and life skills

· Students may be integrated into other courses offered within the school to meet social, personal, and academic needs of the student

· May lead to a Secondary School Certificate of Completion

CPC or Central Program – Communication

· Available in one selected location on a full time basis for students identified with communication exceptionalities of Language Impairment, or of Autism

· Available for students from the ages of 7 to 10, at which time an alternative placement is determined by an IPRC

· Program focus is on receptive and expressive language

DDP or Developmental Disability Program

· Available in selected schools on a full time basis (with integration where appropriate) for students identified with Developmental Disabilities in need of a special program or special class

· Available for students of elementary and secondary age

· Program focus is on life skills and functional academics

ESP or Essential Skills Program

· Available in selected schools on a half-time basis for students identified with a Mild Intellectual Disability in need of a modified program for Language and Mathematics

· Available for students of age for Grade 7 or 8 (in Secondary Schools, students have an option of programs depending on need

· Program focus is on core expectations from the Ontario Curriculum, functional academics and support for content subject areas (History, Geography and Science)

GOAL or Goal Oriented Alternative Learning

· Available in central locations for students recommended by the “Central Behaviour Committee” to be in need of short-term social skills training, or who require an alternative to the traditional school setting

· Available for secondary students

· Program focus is on social skills, anger management, conflict resolution and behaviour intervention for a period of one term, with a review to determine if an extension is required; students continue to work on academic expectations during part of the school day

Inclusion/Integration

Most identified students will attend regular peer appropriate classes in their neighbourhood school with an IEP, accommodated or modified program and supports needed for success. Some identified students will be bussed and grouped into special classes of students of various ages with opportunities for integration in the appropriate age and grade levels, with inclusion in regular school activities.

LRC or Learning Resource Centre (or “Resource Centre”)

· Available in all elementary and secondary schools for students identified as exceptional, or non-identified students with significant learning difficulties

· Available for students of all ages

· Program focus is on accommodations and/or modifications of the Ontario Curriculum; support may include consultation, reinforcement of skills, in-class assistance, direct instruction or withdrawal from class for short periods of time

SSP or Social Skills Program

· Available in selected schools for students recommended by the “Central Behaviour Committee” to be in need of short-term social skills training

· Available to elementary students

· Program focus is on social skills, anger management, conflict resolution and behaviour intervention for a period of one term, with a review to determine if an extension is required; students continue to work on academic expectations during part of the school day

Procedures:

Grade Equivalents

· Results of a test are explained by relating them to a year and month of a school year (eg. 3.2 would be approximately equal to the second month of Grade 3, or October of Grade 3)

· Results are used as a general guideline since the tests do not match exactly with the Ontario Curriculum and student achievement is not in definite monthly increments; cannot assume that a student has mastered all of the skills of the grades leading up to the score

· May be used effectively to measure achievement growth over time

IEP or Individual Education Plan

· A working document to communicate common goals for students with special needs

· IEP must include a number of specifics about the student – strengths, needs, expectations, measure of progress

· Must be developed in consultation with the parent, or the student if 16 or older

· Refer to Ministry of Education document Individual Education Plans: Standards for Development, Program Planning, and Implementation for more information

IPRC or Identification Placement and Review Committee

· A process whereby students are identified as exceptional and are placed in the appropriate educational setting to meet their needs

· IPRC considers a regular classroom as the placement of first choice in consultation with parents

· Placement may be part-time or full-time with integration where appropriate

· IPRC may also consider programs and services designed to meet the needs of the exceptional student

Identified student

· A student deemed to be exceptional by IPRC

· Categories and definitions of exceptionalities are determined by the Ministry of Education and include 11 subcategories of Behaviour, Communication, Intellectual, Physical and Multiple

Non-identified student

· A student who has been referred by the classroom teacher to the school based team as having special needs

· Assistance may take the form of consultation with the resource teacher, classroom assistance or other support services

· Classroom accommodations and strategies are recorded on a referral as part of the “Steps to Success” plan

ISA or Intensive Support Amount

· A process whereby data is gathered to show that an individual student requires intensive support from a variety of programs and services offered by the Board

· The Ministry of Education provides directives to the Board as to specific profiles of characteristics; students must match one of these profiles with 100% consistency in order to qualify for intensive support

Percentiles or Percentile Ranking

· Indicates the percentage of scaled scores in a norm group that fall below a given student’s scaled score; eg. if a student’s scaled score converts to a percentile rank of 28, this means that the student scored higher than approximately 28 percent of the students in the norm group

· Another way of looking at this is – if 100 students of the same age were in a line, this student would stand in the twenty-eighth spot

· Does not mean “percentage” – ie 28 does not mean the student got 28% of the answers correct and 72% wrong

· Percentiles are not composed of equal-measuring units – eg. the difference between percentile ranks of 5 and 10 or 90 and 95 are much greater than between percentile ranks of 50 and 55 (think of the slope or curve of a bell)

SEPPA or Special Education Per Pupil Amount

· Additional funds are given to the Board based on the number of students enrolled

· Funds must be spent on Special Education programs and services and include such things as: specialist teachers, educational assistants, counsellors, speech pathologists, as well as learning materials and resources

· Funds allow the Board the flexibility to provide a range of programs and services to meet the needs of students

Strategies

· Skills or techniques used by students to assist learning

· Individualized to suit learning style, modality preference and developmental level

· Often related to retention and retrieval of information

· May include such things as acronyms, highlighting, rehearsal, jot notes, etc.