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11| The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M arch 22,2018 theifp.ca Perspectives from 15 differ- ent focus groups were used as research for Phase 2 of Halton District School Board's special education review - a strategy that clashed with the expecta- tions of certain members of the special education advisory com- mittee (SEAC) recently. Elana Gray, an external re- viewer for Phase 2 of the review, presented the findings to the committee at J.W. Singleton Centre on March 6. She noted that through collecting infor- mation on current practices and procedures, this phase focused on examining the elementary special education referral, iden- tification and placement op- tions for students with autism, learning disabilities and gifted- ness. The focus groups involved in the research were composed of school staff members, staff from student services, SEAC repre- sentatives and parents of stu- dents with autism, learning dis- abilities and giftedness. In total, approximately 50 staff members and 50 parents volunteered to partake in the survey. Gray noted that the key find- ings of these perspectives indi- cated parents in this particular sample expressed concern about implementation and de- velopment of individual educa- tion plans in the classrooms, as well as inconsistent referral practices from staff at different schools across the board. Par- ents also expressed the opinion that greater progress is seen from students in self-contained classes, rather than resource support classes. Among staff, key concerns were expressed about the poten- tial unreliability of primary gifted screening and a lack of contentment with screening success rates. They also voiced concern about inequities be- tween the exceptionalities, say- ing they felt that primary iden- tification is often expected for gifted children and not neces- sarily expected for students with autism or learning disabil- ities. Trustee Amy Collard says the opinions expressed in the review were often inconsistent, noting that she finds it impor- tant for these perspectives to be presented in such a way that they are not confused with facts. "There is an inconsistent re- ferral process that seems to ex- tend from a lack of staff knowl- edge, then we see that staff is unhappy with the low screening success rates and I have to won- der if that is because they are not adept as to who should be screened," she added. "I think it's really important that these all be framed as per- spectives and not as solid facts, because if we frame them as sol- id facts then we're about as in- consistent as the Bible." Association for Bright Chil- dren's Sherry Foster then voiced her disagreement about the perspectives presented to the committee. "That really bothers me that these are just random people's perceptions that are now on a slide that are made to look like facts," she said. "I feel like this data and showing it publicly is very problematic especially since it's such a small handful of people with their opinions be- cause you can find a very differ- ent group of 50 people with dif- ferent opinions." Gray, as well as superinten- dent of student services Mark Zonneveld, noted that while these perspectives will guide re- search and recommendations, they will not be framed as fact. "We are conscious that 50 of each aren't really representa- tive of all parents and staff, but they are all valid perspectives and voices that we want to hear," Zonneveld said. The results were narrowed down to include these eight key special education recommenda- tions for Phase 2: . To develop a special educa- tion and communication plan; . To improve communication and information sharing among staff members;. To use the Grade 4 screening assessment results to build other learning profiles in addition to gifted- ness;. To review and revise as- sessment criteria for each ex- ceptionality with a focus on spe- cial education classes and pro- grams;. To simplify the identification process for re- source support placements; . To support primary students who demonstrate elements of giftedness in their home schools and to consider resource sup- port and self-contained place- ments as well as extracurricu- lar opportunities;. To continue providing learning opportuni- ties for staff supporting prima- ry students with learning disa- bilities and autism;. To review and improve the IEP develop- ment and implementation pro- cess. 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