Minutes - Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board

Special Education Advisory Committee Page 2
Minutes of February 26, 2009_________________________________________________________
Approval of the minutes
Moved: Kelly Mathieson
Seconded: Thelma Goodfellow
Business arising from the minutes
There was no business arising from the minutes.
That the minutes of January 22, 2009 be approved.
Carried
Continuous Assessment Process Overview
Superintendent FitzGibbon introduced Cindy Waite, who is a speech/language pathologist and part of
our specialized services team. A handout was distributed which provided an overview of the Ontario
Psychological Association (OPA) project from 2006 to 2008.
Cindy shared that OPA received a grant of $20 million to be used to support school boards to reduce
wait times for students requiring psychological assessments and to enhance teacher capacity. In
recognition of the importance of early identification of a student’s learning needs, the Ministry targeted
students in Junior Kindergarten to Grade 4 as priorities for assessments through this project.
The board identified priority items, which focussed on psycho-educational assessments, teacher case
conference participation, speech and language educational assistant learning network, Strategies for
Success: A Program for Students with Learning Disabilities resource, TOWL-3 (which is a test of written
language), and Using Continuous Assessment as an Intervention Model: A resource guide for student
intervention from the classroom to psycho-educational services.
As a result of the OPA grant, the following initiatives were achieved:
• 98 additional psycho-educational assessments were contracted out;
• wait times for all psycho-educational assessments were reduced;
• 110 teachers were able to participate in post-assessment conferences with psychological
services staff and resource teachers;
• educational assistants were supported to meet with speech and language pathologists to review
programs and share best practices, as well as the creation of an on-line “chat” network;
• Strategies for Success resource document was developed and distributed;
• Various assessment tools were researched, which resulted in the selection of the TOWL-3 test;
• Using Continuous Assessment as an Intervention Model resource was developed based on the
assessment and intervention model presented in Education for All and distributed;
• Training of key staff on the Using Continuous Assessment as an Intervention Model resource,
TOWL-3 assessment tool, Strategies for Success resource, and Key Math 3 assessment tool.
It was noted that all of the focus items are sustainable and will continue to be used beyond the scope of
the OPA funding. A discussion ensued and various questions were posed regarding the OPA project
as well as the cessation of Ministry funding.
System Principal Portt then shared an overview of the Continuous Assessment document to provide a
more in-depth understanding of the guide, which has proven to be a very practical tool. Trustee
Marissen shared that he felt the document was very well done, and will be a great resource for years to
come. One suggestion was to share the document with community agencies. SEAC members will
receive a copy of the Continuous Assessment binder at the March meeting.