Parents as Partners - Parent Resources

Helping Parents of Young Children with Special Needs to Develop Effective Partnerships with Schools

Parent Resources

Parents as Partners Fact Sheets

Ministry of Education Documents

Other Useful Resources

Parent Support Groups

Community Specific Resources

Parents as Partners Fact Sheets

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

This Fact Sheet from the OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 1, Getting Ready for Kindergarten, outlines the process for parents who will be registering their special needs child for Junior of Senior Kindergarten this September.

Communication Strategies for Effective Partnership

This Fact Sheet from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 2, Communicating for Success: Strategies for Effective Partnership, provides tips and strategies that parents can use to develop and maintain positive relationships with school staff.

The Kindergarten Program and Students with Special Needs

This Fact Sheet, from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 3, The Kindergarten Program:
Supporting Students with Special Needs, provides information on how the Kindergarten program and how you can get your child ready to start school.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Individual Education Plan (IEP)

This Fact Sheet, from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 4, Special Education: Understanding the Process and the Parent Role, answers parent’s questions about the Individual Education Plan, what it is, who needs one how it is developed.

Hot Tips For Effective Communication

This Fact Sheet, from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 2, Communicating for Success: Strategies for Effective Partnership identifies the benefits of two way communication between home and school and some ideas on how you can strengthen the relationship.

Hot Tips on Preparing for a Meeting

This Fact Sheet, from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 2, Communicating for Success: Strategies for Effective Partnership identifies what you need to know as you prepare for a meeting with school staff.

Hot Tips for a Great Meeting

This Fact Sheet, from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 2, Communicating for Success: Strategies for Effective Partnership identifies provides tips for effective meetings.

Problem Solving Model

This Fact Sheet, from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 2, Communicating for Success: Strategies for Effective Partnership outlines a process that can be used by two or more people who are working together to solve a problem. The model emphasises the importance of brainstorming solutions, and developing an action plan with time lines and accountability.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sharing Information

The Fact Sheet answers the questions that parents have about why they need to share information about their child and how they can ensure that the right people have the information they need to help your child. This Fact Sheet supports activities from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshops 1 to 4.

Differentiated Teaching Strategies

This Fact Sheet from OAFCCD Parents as Partners Workshop 5, The Individual Education Plan (IEP): Introduction to the IEP and the Parent Role, provides examples of differentiated instruction or teaching strategies that can be used to support students with special needs in Kindergarten.

How to Make your own Parent Resource Binder

As part of the Parents as Partners project, we have developed a resource binder to be used to help you to collect and file records related to your child's education. Having one place to collect all information makes it simple to keep things organized and have required information at your fingertips. While you will receive a copy of our binder when you attend one of our workshops you can also choose to build your own using the information contained in this document.

All About Me Information Booklet

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Ministry of Education Documents

The following documents will be of interest to families of children with special needs who are entering or enrolled in the publicly funded school system. This is not a comprehensive list but a selection of resources that the Ministry of Education has available for families on the Website at: www.edu.gov.on.ca

Regulations of the Education Act:

Regulation 181/98 of The Education Ac t, for Identification And Placement of Exceptional Pupils – This Regulation provides the legal definitions of the terms and expressions used in the Identification and Placement Review Committee (IPRC) Process. The Regulation lays out the timelines for the IPRC and Appeal Process.

Regulation 464/97 of the Education Act, for the Establishment of Special Education Advisory Committees – This regulation provides the legal definitions for the membership and activities of the Special Education Advisory Committees (SEAC). Every school board must have a SEAC and members provide advice to the Trustees and Administration regarding Special Education Programs and Services and associated budget.

Resource Guides:

The Individual Education Plan (IEP) A Resource Guide (2004) - This guide has been prepared to assist boards and schools as they implement the requirements for IEPs that are set out in Regulation 181/98. This guide contains advice and tips that are intended to help teachers and others working with exceptional pupils to develop, implement, and monitor high-quality IEPs. A five-step process, based on a team approach, is recommended. Suggestions and sample forms are provided, but teachers may adapt or modify them to suit individual circumstances.

The Ontario Student Record (OSR) Guideline (2000) - The Ontario Student Record (OSR) is the record of a student’s educational progress through schools in Ontario. The Education Act requires that the principal of a school collect information “for inclusion in a record in respect of each pupil enrolled in the school and to establish, maintain, retain, transfer and dispose of the record”. The act also regulates access to an OSR and states that the OSR is “privileged for the information and use of supervisory officers and the principal and teachers of the school for the improvement of instruction” of the student. Each student and the parent(s)1 of a student who is not an adult (that is, a student who is under the age of eighteen) must be made aware of the purpose and content of, and have access to, all of the information contained in the OSR.

Planning Entry to School, A Resource Guide (2005) – This document is designed for use by school staff, parents and community agencies. Useful contents include:

Chart “Planning Entry to School: Roles and Responsibilities”, with suggestions of the extra steps requires for students with special needs.

Appendix A includes copies of 17 resources developed by different school boards to assist with transition to school

Appendix C provides an overview of the Research on the importance of planning entry to school

Shared Solutions, A Guide to Preventing and Resolving Conflicts Regarding Programs and Services for Students With Special Education Needs (2007) – This document, released in September 2007, provides information on Special education, Understanding Conflict, Preventing Conflicts, Resolving Conflicts, and Collaborative approaches to Resolving Conflicts. The guide has been developed following consultation with parents, community organizations and staff from various levels of the school systems. The Guide emphasizes the importance of communication in preventing and resolving conflicts

Transition Planning, A Resource Guide (2002) - This guide presents a range of suggestions from which educators may select ideas that would be useful in their particular local context. It is not expected that every suggestion outlined here will be appropriate to or incorporated in every school board’s3 or school’s transition-planning process. This guide sets out no new policy requirements; rather, it provides detailed examples of steps for implementing the policy, in order to assist all those involved in the transition-planning process.

The Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner, Special Education Campanion (2002) is a Ministry of Edcuation resource for teachers. The document is organized by Exceptionality. For each exceptionality information is provided on the following:

1. Characteristics of students with the exceptionality

2. Teaching Strategies and Suggestions

3. Speciific Skill Strategies

4. Assessment Accommodations

Program Standards:

Individual Education Plans Standards for Development, Program Planning, and Implementation (2000) - This document describes the province-wide standards that school boards must meet when developing, implementing, and monitoring Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for exceptional students, in accordance with Regulation 181/98 of the Education Act, and for students not identified as exceptional who are receiving a special education program and services.

Standards for School Boards’ Special Education Plans (2000) - This document describes the province-wide standards that school boards must meet when developing their special education plans. Each board is required to maintain a special education plan, to review it annually, to amend it from time to time to meet the current needs of its exceptional students, and to submit any amendment(s) to the Minister for review.

Expert Panel Reports:

Education for All, The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6 (2005) - The Ministry of Education established the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs to recommend practices, based on research, that would allow Ontario’s teachers to improve and reinforce effective instruction of reading, writing, oral communication, and mathematics to students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 who have special education needs. The Expert Panel has taken an inclusive, non-categorical – rather than exceptionality-based – approach to address programming for students with special education needs. This report has been written to assist teachers in helping all of Ontario’s students learn, including those students whose abilities make it difficult for them to achieve their grade-level expectations.

Special Education Transformation, The report of the Co-Chairs with the Recommendations of the Working Table on Special Education (2006) – This report submits Recommendations to the Ministry of Education for the transformation of Special Education. “In a transformed system, special education programs and services would support a learning environment that enables students to acquire, demonstrate, and apply the knowledge and skills necessary to maximize their potential for success in school and beyond. Based on their individual learning needs and abilities, all students would receive supports in schools that foster a culture of commitment to achievement.” Many of the Recommendations are informing the direction of current policy in Special Education.

Making a Difference, For Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Ontario Schools, From Evidence to Action, Report of the Ministers’ Reference Group on Autism Spectrum Disorders to: Minister of Education and Minister of Children and Youth Services, (2007) - This document provides an overview of Ministry efforts to address the needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and developed a Vision and Guiding Principals that are reflected in the Recommendations they made to both Ministries. Additional discussions focused on a variety of key topics such as the importance of parental involvement in all phases of programming, the expertise of professionals in the creation of the Individual Education Plan (IEP), and the need for professional development and training of staff working with students with ASD.

Additional Resources:

Helping Your Child Learn to Read, A Parent’s Guide (2001) - This guide contains tips that parents (and caregivers) can use to encourage their young children to read and to love reading. It will be most useful for parents of young children who are just beginning to read.

Helping Your Child Learn Math, A Parent’s Guide (2002) - This guide suggests simple activities that you, as a parent,* can do with your young child to explore math at home. It will be most useful for parents of children in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 3.

Me Read? No Way! A practical guide to improving boys’ literacy skills (2004) - This guide offers a rich source of practices and strategies that are being used in successful literacy programs for boys around the world and that educators in Ontario can draw on to create a stimulating and engaging learning environment for both boys and girls. In this guide, you will find:

supports, information, tips, and ideas conveniently organized into distinct categories;

a wide variety of sources that you can refer to for more in-depth exploration of particular concepts or topics.

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Other Useful Resources

Connectability

A virtual community for families and professionals who support children with special needs. This website includes "neigbourhoods" with resources on Learning Together, Supported Inclusion , Skills for Success and Starting School. The online resources include Parent Tips, Kids Pages and a Visual Engine to create personal schedules and visual reminders. Access to the Website is free but for safety reasons it is a password protected site. On your first visit you can take a tour of the site and then you can join. A password and activation code will be provided in about a week.

Ontario Association for Families of Children with Communication Disorders: OAFCCD has many resources for parents including informaiton about communication disorders, parent fact sheets and tips. Below are just a few of them so be sure to visit their website.

Parent Resources: