Please note: External references have been provided where necessary. Terms that have been defined and adapted for use within the context of this resource do not contain a direct external reference.
Accommodations
As per the Ministry of Education, “the term accommodations refers to the special teaching and assessment strategies, human supports, and/or individualized equipment required by students with special education needs to enable them to learn and demonstrate learning. The provision of accommodations in no way alters the curriculum expectations for the grade level or course.” For additional information, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Accommodations Page of IEP
As per the Ministry of Education, the accommodations page/section of the IEP is “a list of the individualized strategies used with the student, along with any adjustments to the physical environment that are required. [These] should be recorded in the accommodations section of the IEP template (see Appendix E–2: Sample IEP Template).” For additional information, please visit Section 5.1 of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Adapted Equipment
Specialized equipment specifically designed to meet the specific needs of students with varying abilities (e.g., balls that light up, balls with bells inside, oversized paddles, large targets that light up, ramps to send varying objects to a target). This term also includes reference to assistive technology (e.g., augmented and alternative communication devices such as text to speech software on an iPad).
Alternative Expectations
As per the Ministry of Education, “alternative expectations are developed to help students acquire knowledge and skills that are not represented in the Ontario curriculum. They either are not derived from a provincial curriculum policy document or are modified so extensively that the Ontario curriculum expectations no longer form the basis of the student's educational program. For additional information, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Alternative Program
Alternative programs or courses are developed by establishing alternative expectations that are not derived from a subject or course outlined in the provincial curriculum documents. Examples of alternative programs include speech remediation, social skill programs, orientation/mobility training, and personal care programs. Alternative (ALT) is the term used to identify an alternative program or an alternative course on the IEP form. For additional information, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Anchor Chart
An anchor chart is a tool used to visually capture learning where students can reference it when needed (e.g., teacher and student thoughts and ideas).
Assessment Accommodations
As per the Ministry of Education, assessment accommodations are “adjustments in assessment activities and methods required to enable the student to demonstrate learning”. For additional information, please visit Section 5.1 of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC)
As per the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system is a type of assistive technology. It is a term that is used to describe various methods of communication that can help people communicate. AAC can benefit a wide range of individuals, from a beginner communicator to a more sophisticated communicator who generates their own messages. For additional information, please visit the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, Assistive Technology.
Chaining
Chaining is a method that can be used to help students gain proficiency in complex, multi-step directions. It is used to teach each step in isolation and then linking the steps together to perform a specific skill.
Chunking
A teaching strategy used to break down a challenging task into smaller, manageable steps that can be taught and practiced in isolation before grouping together to complete the task as a whole.
Educational Assistant
As per the Ministry of Education, an Educational Assistant is “a professional and/or paraprofessional special education support staff who provides developmental, corrective, and other support services as may be required to meet the needs of the student.” The use of the term Educational Assistant in the context of this resource includes all non-teaching educational staff who support students with disabilities. For additional information, please visit Section 5.2 of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Environmental Accommodations
As per the Ministry of Education, environmental accommodations are “changes or supports in the physical environment of the classroom and/or the school.” For additional information, please visit Section 5.1 of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
First/Then board
A visual tool used to communicate the instruction and/or expectations to the student/participant. This strategy is used to support the student/participant to complete a less preferred task, followed by a preferred task in an explicit way.
Frequency Modulation (FM) system
As per the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, a frequency modulation (FM) system is a type of assistive technology. It is a wireless device used to make challenging listening situations easier. The microphone is connected to a transmitter which sends a wireless audio signal to a receiver. The receiver is worn by the listener and is often attached to a hearing aid. For additional information, please visit the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, Assistive Technology.
Identification, Placement & Review Committee (IPRC)
As per the Ministry of Education, an IPRC is a “formal committee that meets and decides if a student should be identified as exceptional and, if so, the placement that will best meet the student's needs. All school boards must establish one or more IPRCs. An IPRC is composed of at least three persons, one of whom must be a principal or supervisory officer of the board.” For more information, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part D: The Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) Process.
Identified
As per the Ministry of Education, the term “identified” refers to a student who has been identified as exceptional by an Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC). Upon receiving a written request from a student's parent(s)/guardian(s), the principal of the school must refer the student to an IPRC. The IPRC will decide whether the student is an exceptional pupil and, if so, what type of educational placement is appropriate. For additional information, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Identifying students with special education needs.
IEP (Individual Education Plan)
As per the Ministry of Education, an IEP is “a written plan describing the special education program and/or services required by a particular student, based on a thorough assessment of the strengths and needs that affect the student's ability to learn and to demonstrate learning.” For additional information, please visit Section 5.1 of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
In-School Support Team
As per the Ministry of Education, an In-School Support Team is a “school-based group of people with various expertise that work together to provide teaching strategies and recommend assessments (e.g., school administration, Special Education Resource Teacher, Guidance Counsellor, current homeroom teachers)”. For additional information, please visit Learning For All: A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12, page 48.
In-School Team Process
As per the Ministry of Education, an in-school team process includes a collaborative review of the instructional strategies and interventions that have been implemented, as well as the student's responses to them, and assessment of their effectiveness. The team process may also include considering whether, and how, to incorporate recommendations made by out-of-school professionals. An in-school team may also be involved in referring a student to an IPRC or developing an IEP, including the transition plan. For additional information please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario webpage.
Instructional Accommodations
As per the Ministry of Education, instructional accommodations are “adjustments in teaching strategies required to enable the student to learn and to progress through the curriculum”. For additional information, please visit Section 5.1 of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Integration Setting
Students with disabilities are learning alongside peers in the mainstream physical education setting.
Modifications
As per the Ministry of Education, modifications are “changes made in the grade-level expectations for a subject or course in order to meet a student's learning needs. These changes may involve developing expectations that reflect knowledge and skills required in the curriculum for a different grade level and/or increasing or decreasing the number and/or complexity of the regular grade-level curriculum expectations.” For more information, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Modified Expectations
As per the Ministry of Education, modified expectations are “expectations that differ in some way from the regular grade-level expectations. Modified (MOD) is the term used on the IEP form to identify a subject or course from the Ontario curriculum in which the student requires modified expectations.” For additional information, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Participants
The child/youth taking part in the program.
Physiotherapy/Occupational Therapy
As per the Ministry of Education, physiotherapy and occupational therapy are health support services to students with special education needs, which may include support with general maintenance exercises. For more information, please visit Special education in Ontario Kindergarten to Grade 12 – Policy and resource guide, Part F: Other programs and services; School health support services.
Picture Communication Symbols
Individual or sets of drawings or images that are used with or without the accompaniment of written words in order to convey communication between people who use them.
Positive Reinforcement
A preferred activity or object that a student is given access to after completing a non-preferred task. The desired activity or object will reinforce task completion, making it more likely to occur.
Program Page
In subject areas where modifications or alternative changes to the curriculum are required, the IEP will include a program page for the particular subject. The program page includes the student’s current level of achievement, annual learning goals and specific learning expectations.
Prompting
Prompting is an instructional strategy which uses different cues to support a student to successfully perform a task (e.g., modeling, verbal and/or physical gesturing).
Reverse-Integration Setting
Selected students from the mainstream setting are blended into a self-contained physical education setting with students with disabilities.
Schedule Board
A visual representation of a series of events that occur in a given time frame, that can be used to support students transitioning from one activity to the next throughout the school day, period or activity. Schedule boards can be static or can be manipulated to support students removing “finished” activities in order to cue what is happening next.
Self-Contained Setting
Students with disabilities who share the same and/or similar academic requirements learn in a physical education setting segregated from the mainstream physical education setting.
Special Education Services
As per the Ministry of Education, special education services are “services needed to facilitate the student's learning as described in the Individual Education Plan (IEP). When determining the strategies, resources, and other accommodations to be provided to the student and listed in the IEP, the educators contributing to the development of the plan must take into account the recommendations regarding special education programs and services.” For additional information, please visit Section 5 of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario, Part E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Starting Points
A suggested place to start when considering the different components of the Individual Education Plan within Physical Education.
Token System
A behaviour management tool designed to reward positive behaviour by allowing access to a preferred activity or item after earning “tokens” for displaying the wanted behaviour. Clear and specific behaviour criteria are shared with the student beforehand, and tokens are awarded by an adult.