On the Legislative Front
Revisiting the ISA Process and Profile Once Again
by Eva Nichols
The current funding formula for special education, made up of the Special Education Per Pupil Amount (SEPPA) and the Intensive Support Amount (ISA), both of which are supposed to supplement the Foundation Grant allocation, was introduced in 1998. Since that time, you have heard a great deal about LDAO's concerns about the ISA process. Over the past three years, we have expressed our concerns about the ISA eligibility criteria, the inappropriate ISA profiles for students with learning disabilities, the large scale diversion of the focus of school boards to trying to identify more students as ISA-eligible rather than providing services and supports to the vast majority of exceptional students who are not and should not be deemed ISA eligible and the fact that 50% of the special education allocation funding is being spent on such a small group of students with special needs. We have also put forward an alternative model of special education funding and service delivery.
But it is clear that, at least for the moment, the ISA is here to stay. Therefore, it became necessary for us to work with the Ministry of Education to make the process more accountable and to make the LD profiles more appropriate.
LDAO has commented previously that in our experience the primary concern was not the lack of adequate funding for special education within the system as a whole, but rather that the way the system allocates the funding is not adequately focused on meeting identified student needs. This is particularly true where the student in question is not eligible for ISA funding. There is a lack of accountability and compliance with the mandates of school boards, as set out in the Human Rights Code and the Education Act. And because of the collective focus on ISA eligibility as a way of generating extra dollars for school boards, parents are also focussed on trying to have their children identified as needing ISA funding in order to have their needs met.
In some cases the current situation is exacerbated by the fact that some school board staffs do not yet know how to identify and appropriately meet the needs of some of their exceptional students. In some other cases, the situation reflects an anti-labelling and even anti-special education bias or philosophy. This happens in some of the so-called "inclusion" boards where, in the name of inclusion, special needs are frequently not identified or met. We also believe that in some, hopefully only a few, cases school board administrators see the insistence on special education delivery as a burden that puts undue pressure on them and prevents them from getting on with their jobs as they see it.
The allocation of ISA dollars to a school board is not expected to determine the services that your child with learning disabilities needs and should receive. It is your child's IEP that sets out the strengths, needs, special education programs, services and accommodations, without any reference to the child's ISA eligibility. However, this is not how it is working in most places.
During the past summer, the Ministry of Education engaged in an ISA refinement process. In spite of the many concerns that LDAO has about the process and in spite of the fact that we would prefer an elimination or at least major revision of the ISA process, we participated in the revision of the profiles. The good news is that most of our major concerns about the LD profile for ISA eligibility have been eliminated or at least reduced, as a result of the newly developed profile and the rigorous diagnostic process that it defines.
The bad news is that many school boards are functioning as if the tightened profile also means that they do not have to provide anything very much to their non-ISA eligible exceptional students. This is not so! We at LDAO and you as parents look to the Ministry of Education to communicate strongly and effectively to all school boards that the ISA profile is not the definition of learning disabilities and other exceptionalities, nor should it displace the IEP as the determinant of special education programming and services.
You will have heard that the new ISA profile will make it much harder to deem students with learning disabilities ISA eligible. That may well be true, but it is the right direction.
All students with learning disabilities require and must be assured access to appropriate special education programs, services and accommodations. That is their legislated right under Ontario law. The vast majority of them can achieve their potential and succeed in their education, provided that they are taught in the way that they can learn, i.e., with appropriate teaching strategies and are evaluated with the right accommodations but at essentially the same standards as their non-exceptional peers.
The ISA process primarily calls for significant modifications (over 51%) of the curriculum, typically coupled with alternative or reduced outcomes and generally lowered expectations. This is not what most students with learning disabilities require in their educational program. However, those that do need this must be assured it, which is why there needs to be an acceptable LD profile.
The new ISA profile reflects many of the components contained in LDAO's new definition of learning disabilities and the accompanying diagnostic assessment guidelines. LDAO is very pleased with that.
The profile is not perfect. We are still concerned that the special education program set out in the student's IEP is to be developed and delivered by or in conjunction with a qualified special education teacher. In many school boards, the IEP is often developed and the special education program is delivered by an educational assistant. This is not acceptable and you, as parents, should keep track of just who is entrusted with this important task.
LDAO is also pleased that, contrary to the "grandparenting" of many of the other profile groups, none of the previously approved profiles for students with learning disabilities will be accepted for ongoing funding. That means that the eligibility of all students with learning disabilities will be reconsidered. In most cases students will be re-assessed. We are also glad that the Ministry has recognized the inequity that exists for Francophone students and the initiatives that are proceeding to redress this through the Learning Opportunities Task Force.
It is our hope that, after this year's demanding activities, the whole ISA process will recede into the background and the focus on special education will shift to meeting the students' needs by developing, implementing and evaluating excellent IEPs for all students who need these and in particular for students with learning disabilities. Further, that professionals such as psychologists and speech-language pathologists will become individuals who are there to support and work with exceptional students rather then agents of the "how many more students can we diagnose for more dollars" movement.
Parents, as always, have an important role to play as effective advocates for their children with learning disabilities. But please bear in mind that the way to assure success for your child in school is not through the ISA process, but through the development and implementation of an excellent IEP. It is up to you to participate in this process and to speak out for your child.
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