Page 31 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: English, 2007 (Revised)

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 AND 10 | English
Students Requiring Modified Expectations
Some students will require modified expectations, which differ from the regular course expectations. For most students, modified expectations will be based on the regular course curriculum, with changes in the number and/or complexity of the expectations. Modified expectations represent specific, realistic, observable, and measurable achieve- ments and describe specific knowledge and/or skills that the student can demonstrate independently, given the appropriate assessment accommodations.
It is important to monitor, and to reflect clearly in the student’s IEP, the extent to which expectations have been modified. As noted in Section 7.12 of the ministry’s policy docu- ment Ontario Secondary Schools, Grades 9 to 12: Program and Diploma Requirements, 1999, the principal will determine whether achievement of the modified expectations constitutes successful completion of the course, and will decide whether the student is eligible to receive a credit for the course. This decision must be communicated to the parents and the student.
When a student is expected to achieve most of the curriculum expectations for the course, the modified expectations should identify how the required knowledge and skills differ from those identified in the course expectations. When modifications are so extensive that achieve- ment of the learning expectations (knowledge, skills, and performance tasks) is not likely to result in a credit, the expectations should specify the precise requirements or tasks on which the student’s performance will be evaluated and which will be used to generate the course mark recorded on the Provincial Report Card.
Modified expectations indicate the knowledge and/or skills the student is expected to demonstrate and have assessed in each reporting period (IEP Standards, 2000, pages 10 and 11). The student’s learning expectations must be reviewed in relation to the student’s progress at least once every reporting period, and must be updated as necessary (IEP Standards, 2000, page 11).
If a student requires modified expectations in English courses, assessment and evaluation of his or her achievement will be based on the learning expectations identified in the IEP and on the achievement levels outlined in this document. If some of the student’s learn- ing expectations for a course are modified but the student is working towards a credit for the course, it is sufficient simply to check the IEP box on the Provincial Report Card. If, however, the student’s learning expectations are modified to such an extent that the prin- cipal deems that a credit will not be granted for the course, the IEP box must be checked and the appropriate statement from the Guide to the Provincial Report Card, Grades 9–12, 1999 (page 8) must be inserted. The teacher’s comments should include relevant informa- tion on the student’s demonstrated learning of the modified expectations, as well as next steps for the student’s learning in the course.
PROGRAM CONSIDERATIONS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Ontario schools have some of the most multilingual student populations in the world. The first language of approximately 20 per cent of the students in Ontario’s English language schools is a language other than English. Ontario’s linguistic heritage includes several Aboriginal languages; many African, Asian, and European languages; and some varieties of English, such as Jamaican Creole. Many English language learners were born in Canada and raised in families and communities in which languages other than English
30