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Best Practices TORONTO EDUCATOR STUDIES KEY ISSUE: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS IN ONTARIO
RESEARCHING CHANGE STRATEGIES
Definition of Inclusive Education – Department of Education – New Brunswick
Research Study Results: Inclusion and Health – based on PALS – Maryam Wagner shares her findings.
Including Students with Exceptionalities – What Works?
Manitoba Resource on Transition from Secondary School
A new document has been created in Manitoba to address transition protocol for students who will be completing their high school education. It is called -Bridging to Adulthood: A Protocol for Transitioning Students with Exceptional Needs from School to Community. It is intended for transition planning partners, including Manitoba Family Services and Housing, designated agencies, Child and Family Services Authorities and Agencies, Manitoba Health and Healthy Living, regional health authorities and their programs and services, Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth and educators in Manitoba. CACL Inclusive Education Brochure  Check it out!
Tim Loreman is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Concordia University College of Alberta, Canada, and formerly taught at Monash University, Australia. AB A useful addition to available resources from a professor in Western Canada. Available from RoutledgeFalmer. Check their website – www.routledge.com 
Anne Jordan has just published an eBook with Wiley Canada that was developed as an electronic book to be used on-line. It is called “Introduction to Inclusive Education” and promises to be an excellent resource for Canadian teachers – both those now in classrooms and as a text for pre-service teachers. The focus of the book is on how teachers can adapt the skills they already have to include a wide range of students' needs, and how these in turn can benefit all students. Anne asserts that inclusion can be not only good for students but also a powerful form of professional growth for teachers. The book has built in components available on-line: interactive exercises, quizzes, video sequences, and case studies, and readings accompany each module. The eBook was given to almost 200 classroom teachers attending a PD Session on inclusive Education held in New Brunswick in late November. The Student Services Branch of the Ministry of Education will be using it in a in-service project to begin in 2007. (Contact Robert Gerard for information - (Robert.Gerard@gnb.ca). You can find the book at the following site:  Aim Higher “Aim Higher” parents and families were told in a session held in the fall of 2006 in London Ontario. Marilyn Dolmage shared her thoughts with participants in the event. - Aim Higher.doc Yukon Program Supports Inclusion and More A program called the “Whole Child Program” was referred to us by Patrice Berrel, CACL Board member and a school principal in Whitehorse, Yukon. The program is coordinated by Crystal Pearl-Hodgins, the Community Coordinator.
The purpose of the program is to restructure schools “to best allow for full participation by all and to ensure that every child has every opportunity to meet their full potential. The program recognizes that Schools have an active and pivotal role to play in integrating community and services for children and their families. The African proverb "it takes an entire village to raise a child" has never been truer than for our community. The challenge was how do we do it. The educational success of our children cannot be assured unless there are concerted efforts made to remove the barriers to learning created by problems that begin outside the classroom walls. Sharing Success The new school year is upon us and we want to start a new series on our website. We want to feature short success stories from teachers, parents, school leaders and others. The ones that follow were provided by principals who participated in the “Leadership Academy on Inclusive Education” held in Charlottetown PEI in July 2006. Others will be added in the coming days. Check back to see new stories. We thank the individuals who provided the stories and ask you to send us your success stories to add to them. Victoria Mosley, Principal, Millidgeville North School, District 8, Saint John, NB 
While working as a grade 5 teacher I had a student with “Asperger’s Syndrome” assigned to my class. As I got to know the boy’s interests and strengths, I soon could tell when he was getting off-task and needed prompting. My ability to “read” this child’s behavior helped me establish a strong and supportive relationship with him. I was able to get optimal results because I could tell when he required down time or a break from work. I gave him latitude and this made his time in my classroom more successful. When the teacher develops bonds with students by becoming “part of their world” and finding out about their interests, hobbies, skills and strengths allows one to meet their emotional, social and educational needs. Tanya Whitney, Principal, Forest Hills School, District 6, Saint John, NB 
My most notable success with inclusive education has been the establishment of an effective student services team within my school. This was partnered or linked to the intentional empowerment of the resource teacher in the school to be confident in her role as a collaborative consultant. I did this by actively elevating the importance of this role – the resource teacher - in our school. I gave the collaborative consultation role support in a very public way with the staff and communicated and explained the rationale for the approach to teachers. This has to be done on a continuous and deliberate basis. Some of the benefits of an effective student services team and “resource teacher” who works from the “collaborative consultation model are:
Charlene Carroll, Principal, Hampton High School, District 6, Hampton, NB 
In January 2006 we received a student with many needs – academic, behavior and social. We investigated his school history and this allowed us to develop a good understanding of the issues affecting him. When he was registered in the district he was described as having ADHD, academic delays, bipolar condition and as being physically abusive to others. In his previous school he had been removed from classes and suspended from school several times. When in school he spent most of his time in the resource room and was not included in the classroom because of fears of his behavior. We … (our school team) … decided we were going to set up a plan to make sure he stayed in his class, control his behavior and make academic learning a priority. We first asked for teacher assistant support on a temporary basis to get him on track. It was requested and denied three times. As a consequence we decided we were going to go ahead and make up a plan we could do ourselves. We first met with the student’s parents and received their ideas and input. The district did support us by providing release time for all 7 staff members involved in the case to meet and develop a plan. We organized the student’s day so that he was with his peers all day. We re-assigned several teacher assistants to assist him a few times a week and we had our school behavior intervention worker support his teacher and monitor his behavior and academic progress. The team also focused on identifying the things that triggered behavior problems and to find ways to reduce these factors. We made the student a priority for our weekly team meetings and focused on following his progress and developing intervention strategies where needed. As a result of our collaborative team effort we were able to keep him in the regular classroom 90% of the time. Violent outbursts were reduced from daily events to weekly or even bi-weekly. The student was assisted in developing a friendship circle and now participates in all aspects of school life. We feel positive about having had the chance of working with this student. We feel good about out team meeting the challenge of developing strategies to be successful with this student. Inclusive Policy and Practice in Education: Best Practices for Students with Disabilities Inclusive Education – Stories and Strategies for Success |
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Joyce Mounsteven has recently completed research on an important topic. During the school years 2006 – 2009 a research study entitled: Roles and Responsibilities of Educational Assistants in Ontario Schools: implications for practice, was conducted. Permission was received from numerous school boards, French, English, Public and Catholic to access the educational assistants (EAs) within their board. This is a summary of the results.
For the past six years I have had the pleasure of partnering with the Community Inclusion Initiative (CI), a national community development initiative promoting the inclusion, full participation and citizenship of Canadians with intellectual disabilities and their families. The initiative needed an evaluation framework and ongoing support to fully understand the most promising strategies to change and improve organizations, policies, and systems in ways that are supportive of inclusion. I started this work as a researcher at the Centre for Community Based Research, and have continued my relationship with CI more recently with Taylor Newberry Consulting. 
