Page 15 - Special Education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Resource Guide
P. 15
Draft Introduction
Our Shared Beliefs
Special education reform can provoke positive change across the entire system. For example, the guiding principles and key themes outlined
in Learning for All: A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12 (2013, p. 7) were first described in Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6 (2005). All educators need to consider these principles in their program planning.
The guiding principles are:
• All students can succeed.
• Each student has his or her own unique patterns of learning.
• Successful instructional practices are founded on evidence-based research, tempered by experience.
• Universal design and differentiated instruction are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of students.
• Classroom teachers are the key educators for a student’s literacy and numeracy development.
• Classroom teachers need the support of the larger community to create a learning environment that supports all students.
• Fairness is not sameness.
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