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From the Smoky Lake Signal, Wednesday, September 25, 2002. Volume 25, Number 20. Aspen View's Special Needs Handbook Last June the Alberta Teachers' Association held a series of 40 educational hearings throughout the province. "Falling through the cracks" was a phrase frequently repeated in many of the 1,167 submissions by Alberta teachers and parents at the hearings. When teachers in Aspen View spoke at their hearing held in Boyle, the problems of integrating special needs children into regular classrooms was one of their recurring themes. Aspen View's Director of Student Services Derm Madden's special needs handbook, presented at this month's board meeting, may be part of the solution. In 15 schools he found they had 15 different ways of doing business. It's created a hazard for the administration in trying to determine if their programs were legitimate, said Mr. Madden. The handbook has standardized many of the processes. Each special needs student needs an individualized modified school program. In the past it was up to the special needs teacher to create the individual program plans (IPPs), but under the new system a learning support team which will include the special education co-ordinator, principal and parents will be involved. This will eliminate the problem of parents later saying they didn't know their kids were in the special needs program. Standardized testing procedures will be implemented. Depending on the school's size, availability of qualified personnel and access to resources, the student will either be kept in the regular classes with a teaching assistant or be replaced part time in a special class. Other options include full time special education classes plus integration where possible, or a combination of regular and special classes with no academic instruction in the regular classes. The philosophy is inclusion in age appropriate classes. The old model was to pull the students out of regular classes and put them in special classes if they couldn't keep up. Today's model, inclusion or integration is "the practice of meeting the physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs of students with special needs in regular classes in local schools with non-disabled same age peers with appropriate support," said Madden the director of student services. Does this mean they'll still get credit for the class? asked Trustee Laurie Genert. So long as they do the material. If they're not capable of doing it, they can still be in the class, only their report card will say they are working at a partial level. Will the new handbook solve the teachers' problems of dealing with special needs students? No. But it will help the administrators. Along with the handbook comes a web site for providing the administration with information on each special needs student. There will be four levels of security on the site. Teachers can access the students IPPs, include report card marks and provincial test results. Mr. Madden will be able to access all the IPPs and monitor the process of all the students from his office in Athabasca. The forms created will track the students as they go through the school system and will also include the special needs student exit form. Madden said he created his handbook by going through all the other handbooks in the province and asking teachers for input. This isn't new, said Trustee Laurie Genert, we're behind. Most of the special needs work is geared towards ECS and elementary school. You need to gear it for the rest, said the trustee. What about kids in the upper grades. They're losing out. Most is geared to elementary. By high school kids are very independent and won't use help. It's impossible to get a speech language therapist, for instance, working at upper grade levels, said Madden. Part of the reason is there just isn't the manpower in the province. Trustee Laurie Genert said the gifted and the students mildly needing help are slipping through the cracks. They're invisible. Hopefully this will help alleviate it. Madden said they wanted to establish the principle that every student gets the program they need. We're almost to the point of developing programs for every student. We are more accountable now to students than we were ten years ago. Trustee Genert said that was why she ran for the position. She had trouble with the schools and she wanted answers. Trustee Rita Sequeira said the philosophy of inclusion is wonderful. But asked whether it creates frustration for the teachers. It doesn't work in every class, said Madden. Some kids are out of control, and there are valid reasons for saying they must go to separate rooms by themselves. But we have to look at how we can get the kids to stay in the classroom. Inclusion is the model used in Sweden, said Rita Sequeira, but they have small classes. The physically challenged and emotionally disturbed children are a problem for teachers. Director of Students Services Madden said that Aspen View does provide the resources, the aides are hired if they're needed. There is no school in the division that doesn't get help if it is needed. School Board Chairman Dave Dacyk said it's a great start. There's still a lot of work to be done. Previously the philosophy was sticking a round kid in a round hole, and if he wasn't round, throw him out the door. Now we're trying to have every student reach their potential. Return to the Smoky Lake
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