Currently, there are no AODA education standards. However, two AODA standards development committees have drafted recommendations of guidelines that AODA education standards should include. One committee has recommended guidelines for the kindergarten to grade twelve (K-12) education system. In this article, we outline recommendations for reducing streaming of students with disabilities.
The committee’s mandate from the Ontario government requires recommendations focused on the publicly-funded K-12 school system. However, students and educators with disabilities also face barriers in other school settings, including:
- Private schools
- Pre-school programs, such as early literacy programs
Therefore, all these settings should comply with the forthcoming K-12 education standards.
Reducing Streaming of Students with Disabilities
Many students with disabilities benefit from learning some subjects through a modified or alternative curriculum. For instance, students may learn some subjects below grade level, or follow an alternative curriculum to learn social skills. However, they spend the rest of their time learning the provincial curriculum along with their non-disabled peers.
In contrast, the Committee reports that some students are learning too many subjects through a modified or alternative curriculum. These students learn fewer subjects at grade level, and they have less time to spend learning the provincial curriculum. As a result, these students are less likely to finish school by graduating with a diploma.
The practice of placing students in certain types of courses for most of their school day is called streaming students. Streaming can also affect non-disabled students. For example, current students must choose between academic and applied streams for most of their courses. While courses in the academic stream prepare students for university, courses in the applied stream do not. Once a student enters the applied stream, they become less eligible for higher education, unless they re-take courses in the academic stream. In other words, the practice of streaming students results in loss of opportunities later in their lives. Therefore, the Ontario government has committed to creating curriculum that will not stream students in this way.
Nonetheless, the practice of streaming students with disabilities into course loads of mostly modified or alternative courses persists. For instance, streaming may be due to stereotypes about what students with certain disabilities are capable of learning. Therefore, the Committee recommends guidelines for reducing streaming of students with disabilities.
Guidelines for Reducing Streaming of Students with Disabilities
School boards should use guidelines when deciding how much modified or alternative curriculum a student should enroll in. This decision should provide needed modifications and alternatives, without compromising students’ ability to graduate or limiting future career opportunities. For example, course combinations should impose “the least reduction necessary” under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code).
Furthermore, long-term plans should specify how students taking modified or alternative courses will continue to access the provincial curriculum. A student’s long-term plan for accessing as much of the provincial curriculum as possible should be part of their Individual Education Plan (IEP). The IEP should detail the degree of modification for any modified courses a student is taking. Finally, the principal and the teachers of modified courses should confirm on the student’s IEP that the modification entails “the least departure from curriculum necessary.”