Benchmark 4: Accommodations

The Inquiry found that accommodations such as assistive technology were often provided in lieu of instructional interventions in Ontario. Modifications were frequently used to permanently lower expectations for students, and applied without a clear plan to ensure students catch up. Also, the Inquiry found that when accommodations are required, they are often not timely, consistently applied, or supported in the classroom.

Recommendations

Set Standards: While accommodations are provided at the school board level, the Ministry plays a vital role in setting standards and ensuring consistency across Ontario. The OHRC recommends the Ministry work with an external expert(s) to revise its program planning and professional development policy documents to provide greater guidance on the appropriate use of accommodations and modifications; establish a list of practical and accessible assistive technology products and training that is required on each make it easier for students to access and use assistive technology and set standards for IEPs.

Funding: The OHRC recommends that the Ministry evaluate existing funding structures
and levels to ensure sufficient resources for timely and effective accommodation.

Training for educators: The OHRC recommends school boards (and the Ontario College of Teachers, as appropriate) ensure educators receive training related to accommodation, modification and the use of assistive technology. The OHRC recommends that school boards make several changes to current approaches for better transparency and accountability around accommodations and modifications.

Accommodations: Little to No Progress

More evidence of systematic changes to transparency and accountability related to accommodations and modifications needs to be provided. Faculties of education are required to prepare teacher candidates with knowledge and understanding of the current Ontario curriculum and provincial policy documents that are relevant to the student’s areas of study and curriculum, including planning and design, special education, and assessment and evaluation. Teacher candidates need opportunities to apply this content in their practice teaching assignments, so they are ready to support students when they get their own classrooms. Even though it is the AQ program providers’ responsibility to ensure that all their AQ programs are current by regularly updating materials to include the most up to date resources available, including the relevant current curriculum and/or policy documents, the Ontario College of Teachers still needs to update the standards for the Special Education Additional Qualification courses.

Currently, the IEP guidelines do not mention using evidence-based screeners to plan effective interventions or progress monitoring to measure the effectiveness of interventions and accommodations. IEPs are critically important because they help the student achieve the learning expectations identified.

The Ministry has not yet revised the IEP guidelines to incorporate recent literacy assessment and intervention changes for struggling readers and writers, although recent literacy assessment should be considered under relevant assessment data.

Ministry guidance emphasizes accommodations and modifications at the expense of interventions; the word "intervention" does not appear. Evidence-based practices are not mentioned, while long-debunked approaches such as “learning styles” remain.

Next Steps

A new policy and procedure memorandum should be created to outline requirements for clear communication with parents regarding the use of accommodations and modifications and how these are being implemented alongside intervention. The Ontario College of Teachers should update the course outlines for the Special Education AQ courses and better monitor and regulate the delivery of these courses.

It is time to reimagine the IEP as a tool for effectively supporting growth and learning for all students. IEPs should contain the complete student assessment data history (including reading screening and progress monitoring data) and the interventions and accommodations provided. This level of documentation ensures that all educators, parents, and guardians can have a clear understanding of the child's needs, the supports that have been provided, and the effectiveness of those supports.