A Sample Letter for Appealing an Identification or Placement Decision

School Boards are required to establish committees for the purpose of Identification and appropriate Placement of students with special needs. These committees are called IPRCs (Identification, Placement and Review Committee). Any student has a right to an IPRC, even if the student is in Kindergarten. Once the child is enrolled, an initial IPRC meeting or a Review can be requested by either the parent or the principal of the school.

What does Identification mean?

Special needs students can be formally identified under one or more of the Categories of Exceptionality. There are 5 categories under the Education Act: Behaviour, Communication, Intellectual, Physical, and Multiple. Specific diagnoses are included under these categories. For example Autism, Learning Disability, Deaf, and Speech Impairment fall under the Communication category. Under the Intellectual category, falls Gifted, Mild Intellectual Disability, and Developmental Disability.

What are the Placement options?

School boards must provide a range of placement options to meet the needs of all their students. Examples are: Regular class, Regular class with indirect support, Regular class with Resource assistance, Regular class with withdrawal assistance, Special Education Class with partial integration, Special Education Class full-time, Provincial and Demonstration schools, Care and Treatment facilities.

What's the next step if the Parent Agrees or Disagrees?

Parents have the right to participate in the meeting and must state their agreement or disagreement of the decision within 30 days following the meeting. If the parent agrees with the IPRCs decision, he/she should sign the form indicating agreement. The Identification and/or Placement will then be implemented or continued as the case may be. But what if the parent disagrees with either the Identification or the Placement decision or both? He/she must file a Notice of Appeal with the Director of Education stating which decision they disagree with and why.

All About Preschool Education

Preschool education is a special learning process prepared for kids that are not matured enough to enroll in the compulsory education system. It's also referred to as "infant education." It's mainly meant for kids that are between the ages of 0 to 3. In some locations, it's meant for children that are between the ages of 1 to 5.

There are diverse forms of preschool education obtainable in various cities and nations across the globe. In the US for instance, preschool comes before the kindergarten stage. In Europe, both kindergarten and preschool run concurrently. They have the same programs and processes in most cities. In African nations, infant education is highly cherished by parents. It's quite different from kindergarten and nursery school levels.

In any case, infant education is generally tailored to meet the needs of kids at their very tender ages. There are unique programs offered at the infant education level. Among them include day-care services. Working parents benefit a lot from the programs. They can easily enroll their kids while still maintaining their jobs. All they need is to drop the kids at the available facilities every morning and then pick them up in the evening.

Meanwhile, preschool education is meant to develop the child in diverse ways. There are several areas that are usually covered. Special programs are normally offered to develop the kid. There's a special focus on emotional development of the child. There's also special focus on social and personal development. The kids are taught how to communicate and use sign language. They are also taught how to speak and listen attentively.

Furthermore, there are several facilities that are usually provided in a reliable infant education system. Among them include playing grounds, recreational facilities, and toilet and bath facilities. There are also special rooms for daily teaching. There are equally rooms for daily feeding of the kids.

To make infant education very proactive, well trained teachers are usually engaged. They are always well groomed to handle kids on daily basis. They have to be with the kids all through the daily training sessions.

In all, preschool education comes with diverse benefits. It helps a lot in developing a child's mental faculty. It improves the thinking ability of the kid. It enhances the social development of the infant. It's also prepares the child to face further educational processes in his or her life. It's indeed a vital level that can launch a child to greater heights.