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Special Education Review

What is the Special Education Review?

  • In response to the 吃瓜黑料网’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan (2024-28), and with support from 吃瓜黑料网’s Research and Development Department, the Special Education and Inclusion Department will embark on an ongoing three-year cycle of review and evaluation for internal improvement purposes.

  • Information from the Review will assist the Special Education and Inclusion Department in understanding the role that individual education plans (IEPs) and placements play in student pathways and outcomes, as well as supporting the conditions in which educators are able to engage in effective practice. 

  • The Review is not intended to make any recommendations related to budget or staffing, but rather is part of ongoing departmental work to draw on students’, families’ and educators’ knowledge and experiences of special education across the 吃瓜黑料网.   

  • The Review will focus on students’ achievement and pathway outcomes throughout elementary and secondary school, access to post-secondary, as well as student and family experiences in special education, the conditions required for student success, and the conditions that enable or inhibit educators’ practice. 

  • Outcomes of the Review will inform the implementation of actions aimed at addressing disparities in access, improving student and family experiences of special education as well as student outcomes, and supporting conditions in which educators are enabled to engage in effective practice.  

 

What are the Key Steps?

  • With consultation from a Consultation Team of 吃瓜黑料网 community members, key areas for improvement will be identified based on: 

    • student, family and educator expectations and experiences of special education and access to supports and services 

    • an exploration of student pathways, outcomes and post-secondary opportunities in relation to their level of special education support (i.e., fully self-contained or partially-integrated, regular classroom with IEP modifications or accommodations, or students without an IEP). 

  • The first phase of the Review will include an analysis of system data, surveys and focus groups for students, parents, and educators

 

Who are the Special Education Review Consultation Team?

  • A team of 吃瓜黑料网 community members will consult and provide expertise, review findings, provide feedback and advise on knowledge mobilization. 

  • The Special Education Review research team includes two staff members from 吃瓜黑料网’s Research and Development Department, as well as  Dr. Gillian Parekh from York University. 

  • The Consultation Team includes the research team members, as well as staff from the Equity Department, Urban Indigenous Education Centre, Special Education and Inclusion Department, Human Rights Office, members of the Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (PIAC), Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), a school-based educator, a current 吃瓜黑料网 secondary student receiving special education support, and a former 吃瓜黑料网 student with experience in special education.  

 

Special Education Review Consultation Team Meeting Agendas and Summaries

Please click the link below to view the agendas of upcoming Special Education Review Consultation Team meetings as well as summaries of past meetings:

 

What is the Special Education Review Phase One Data Analysis?

  • The research team has completed a system data analysis for students who have an IEP (excluding students with a gifted or developmental disability exceptionality) as well as for students who have been identified as gifted. Students with a gifted exceptionality and those with developmental disabilities were analysed separately due to historical differences in the trajectories of these students relative to other students with IEPs. System survey and focus group work will be completed in addition to these data analyses. 

  • Analysis of students who have an IEP (excluding gifted and developmental disability): Data from three Grade 9 cohorts (students who have been tracked from Grade 6 through to post-secondary) was used. These students were in Grade 9 in 2013-14, 2016-17, and 2018-19. Student achievement was controlled for using Grade 6 EQAO math scores. EQAO was used because it is a standardized measure of achievement available at the system level. The relationship to three distinct academic outcomes in relation to five special education contexts was examined.

  • The five contexts included:

  1. Students who do not have an IEP

  2. Students who are in the regular class with an accommodations-only IEP

  3. Students who are in the regular class with an IEP that has modified curricular expectations

  4. Students who have an IEP and are participating in partially integrated special education classes

  5. Students who have an IEP and are participating in fully self-contained special education classes.

  • The three academic milestones that we used were selected based on their established relationship to post-secondary opportunities and access to future education and their descriptive capacity in mapping students’ trajectories through school.

    1. Likelihood of accessing academic-level programming in Grade 9

    2. Likelihood of accessing three or more university-level courses in Grades 11-12

    3. Likelihood of confirming an offer to an Ontario university or college

  • Overall achievement has improved across these markers over the years, however, the disparity between the five educational contexts remained largely consistent. The overall trend indicates that students in self-contained special education classes were more likely to have limited access to Grade 9 academic courses, Grades 11-12 university-level courses and post-secondary education in comparison to similarly achieving peers in regular classrooms.

  • Analysis of students with a gifted exceptionality: The same methodology was applied to students identified as gifted. However, due to the small number of students achieving below level 3 on EQAO, students were not separated into achievement groups. Additionally, due to the small number of students in partially-integrated placements or in the regular classroom with IEP (modifications), students were compared between those in special education classes (fully self-contained or partially-integrated) and regular classroom (IEPs with accommodations or modifications). 

  • Overall results showed minimal differences between students who were in self-contained classes versus a regular classroom with a small exception related to accessing post-secondary education. Students in the regular classroom were less likely to apply to post-secondary institutions in Ontario, however, the data does not capture students who may have applied to post-secondary institutions outside of Ontario or internationally. Overall trends indicate that students identified as gifted fare notably better on all indicators than students who do not have IEPs. 

  • Analysis of students with developmental disabilities: Work with the Special Education and Inclusion Department is ongoing to identify data points that would best capture the experiences of students with developmental disabilities and are also consistently available from a system perspective. For example, examining alternative graduation outcomes such as the number of students who obtained an Ontario Secondary School Certificate (OSSC), as well as data from the 2023 Student Census. 

  • Demographic analysis: When student demographics were run for the five special education contexts, it was found that there was an overrepresentation of male, racialized and lower income students in special education classes. Students identified as gifted were disproportionately white and East Asian, higher income and male. There were few differences across placements for gifted students in terms of gender and income, but racial differences did emerge. 

  • Outcome and demographic findings mirror much of the international empirical literature (e.g., Brown (2018), Brown & Parekh (2013), Parekh (2023), Parekh, Brown & Robson (2018), Redburn (2021), Robson et al. (2014), Strand & Lindsay (2008)). 

 

References


Brown, R. S. (2018). Changing Lanes: The Relationship Between Special Education Placement and Students’ Academic Futures. Educational Policy.

Brown, R. S. & Parekh, G. (2013). The intersection of disability, achievement, and equity: A system review of special education in the 吃瓜黑料网 (Research Report No. 12-13-12). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 吃瓜黑料网. Intersection of Disability Achievement and Equity.pdf 

Parekh, G. (2023). Ableism in Education: Rethinking School Practices and Policies (1st ed.). Routledge. .

Parekh, G., Brown, R.S. and Robson, K. (2018). The Social Construction of Giftedness. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 7(2), 1-32. . 

Redburn, J. (2021). Disproportionality in SEN referrals: why so many boys? .  

Robson, K. L., Anisef, P., Brown, R. S., & Parekh, G. (2014). The intersectionality of postsecondary pathways: The case of high school students with special education needs. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 51(3), 193-215.  

Strand, S. and Lindsay, G. (2008). Evidence of ethnic disproportionality in special education in an English population. The Journal of Special Education, 43(3), 174-190. .