Page 88 - Special Education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Resource Guide

Special Education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12 Draft
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The In-School Team and Out-of-School
Resources
Establishing an in-school team is an important step in creating conditions that enable a student who is experiencing difficulty to succeed in the learning environment. School boards do not have a legislated responsibility to establish in-school teams, but many boards find that such teams can provide interventions and supports that effectively meet the student’s needs.
An in-school team can collaboratively review instructional strategies and interventions that have been implemented, as well as the student’s responses to them, and assess their effectiveness. The team may also consider whether and how to incorporate recommendations made by out-of-school profes- sionals. An in-school team may also be involved in referring a student to
an IPRC or developing an IEP, including the transition plan.
The in-school team is made up of people with various types of expertise who:
• support the student, the parent, and one another;
• collaborate, consult, and share information and knowledge to identify
strategies that may increase the student’s learning success.
Teams are designed to suit the specific needs of the students within the school, using the individual resources and skills of the school and/or board staff in order to respond to these needs. The principal, in collaboration with school staff, may establish formal guidelines for the team’s membership, meeting times, and procedures for recording and reporting on its activities.
The composition of the in-school team will vary depending on the team’s purpose. However, each team consists of a core group of individuals. In most schools, the core members of the in-school team would include:
• the student’s classroom teacher(s) and/or the “referring” teacher; • the principal or vice-principal;
• the school special education teacher (if available);
• a guidance teacher/counsellor (especially at the secondary level); • the student success teacher (especially at the secondary level).