Students with Reading Difficulties
Diagnostic Testing
The Education Act requires school boards to implement procedures for early and ongoing identification of the learning abilities and needs of students. In 2014, the Ministry of Education released the revised Policy/Program Memorandum No. 8: The Identification of and Program Planning for Students with Learning Disabilities (PPM8), which emphasizes the importance of early and ongoing screening. PPM8 also encourages school boards to use a multidisciplinary approach to assess and identify learning disabilities in students by considering educational history, medical information, parental observations, test results, and other professional assessments (e.g., psychoeducational or psychological assessments). Policy/Program Memorandum No. 59 (PPM59) was issued to address psychological testing and assessment of students and to guide school boards regarding the provision of psychological services for students.
During the 2013–2014 school year, school boards reported that approximately 75,000 students with learning disabilities had been identified by the Identification, Placement, and Review Committee. Many of these students, constituting the largest exceptionality group in Ontario, have difficulties in reading.
Instruction for Children with Reading Difficulties
The rights of students with special education needs are protected by legislation. School boards are required to provide special education programs and special education services for exceptional students in accordance with regulations.
In May 2006, the Ministry of Education published a report called Special Education Transformation: The Report of the Co-chairs with the Recommendations of the Working Table on Special Education that recognized the need for a paradigm shift in special education and recommended a system transformation to enhance success of students with special education needs. In 2013, following the 2005 release of Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students with Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6, the Ministry released Learning for All, A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12.21,22,23 This resource describes an integrated process of assessment and instruction, research‑informed and evidence‑based approaches such as universal design for learning, differentiated instruction, and a tiered approach. This approach systematically facilitates early identification of students who may be at risk for developing reading difficulties and provides high quality evidence‑based assessment, instruction, and interventions that respond to students’ individual literacy needs. The previously mentioned PPM8 provides further directions to school boards in supporting the learning and teaching of students with learning disabilities with greater personalization and precision.
Since 2009, the Ministry of Education has provided funding to school boards for projects that have led to improvements in teaching literacy skills and assessing the reading skills of students with reading disabilities. These projects have demonstrated the effectiveness of assistive technology and the continuous improvement of Individual Education Plans and transition plans in supporting student learning and achievement. In 2014, the Ministry released to schools Policy/Program Memorandum No. 156, Supporting Transitions for Students with Special Education Needs (PPM156), which required a transition plan to be developed for all students with an Individual Education Plan regardless of whether they have been identified as exceptional by the Identification, Placement, and Review Committee. Transition plans are developed as part of students’ respective Individual Education Plans with consideration of their physical, emotional, and learning needs to determine whether support in making transitions is necessary. Students make such transitions upon entry to school, between grades, from one program area to another, when changing schools, when transferring from an outside agency or facility to a school, from elementary to secondary school, and from secondary school to the next appropriate pathway.