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Letter to Board Chair and Director of Education for eight selected school boards

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November 8, 2019

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I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to your school board to request documents, data and information that may be relevant to the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (OHRC) Right to Read inquiry into human rights issues that affect students with reading disabilities in Ontario’s public education system.

I know that your school board and the OHRC share the goal of ensuring that students with reading disabilities have meaningful access to education, which includes learning to read. Achieving our shared goal depends on implementing a systematic approach that has been shown to be effective in meeting the needs of the most students, particularly students with reading disabilities.

As you know from our telephone call and the inquiry Terms of Reference we sent to you on September 30, 2019 (copy enclosed), the OHRC is conducting an inquiry under the authority of section 31 (see Appendix A) of the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code).

We will assess your board’s approach to reading disabilities (i.e. learning disabilities with impairment in reading, including dyslexia) against five benchmarks:

  1. Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
  2. Mandatory early screening
  3. Evidence-based reading intervention programs
  4. Accommodation
  5. Psycho-educational assessments.

We will also examine the unique challenges of students with reading disabilities who face other barriers such as low socio-economic status/poverty, or having intersecting Code identities such as being Indigenous, racialized, newcomers, or English Language Learners. We are also considering perspectives on terminology, in particular related to the categories of learning disability (LD) and dyslexia.

To conduct this inquiry, we are asking your board to produce documents, data and information and to answer questions. We ask that you provide a complete response to each item below or if you cannot, that you indicate why. We have provided an Excel spreadsheet that corresponds to each item requested. Please respond to the production request through the spreadsheet (i.e. fill in your answers in the Excel spreadsheet and provide the requested data in the corresponding Tabs).

We are prepared to receive materials and information on a rolling basis and will keep track of the status of our production request. We ask that you provide as much of this information as possible by December 18, 2019. At the end of this letter, I include details about how your staff can connect with OHRC staff to facilitate this process.

Pursuant to sections 31(7) and 31(8) of the Code, the OHRC requests that your board produce the following documents, data and information:

 

  1. Universal Design for Learning

  1. Please provide any documents, data or information explaining your board’s approach to teaching reading, particularly in junior kindergarten (JK) through Grade 3 inclusive, including any policies, procedures, directives, training and professional development materials or anything else that addresses literacy and reading.
  2. Please indicate whether schools in your board are primarily using a “whole-language approach” (e.g. three cueing system, sight words, and/or reading resources such as PM Benchmarks/Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)/Fountas and Pinnell) or a “structured literacy” approach (e.g. systematic instruction in phonics, decodable texts). Please be specific.
  3. Please advise whether your board has taken a position or issued any direction to schools on which approach to use. If so, please explain why that approach was selected. If not, please explain why your board has not done so.
  4. How do you monitor the progress of individual students in reading?

 

  1. Early screening

  1. Please provide any documents, data or information that address your board’s approach to early screening for potential reading difficulties, i.e. in kindergarten and Grade 1, including any policies, procedures, directives, early screening tools or tests used, early screening pilot projects/trials, training and professional development materials or anything else that addresses early screening.
  2. Please indicate whether your board requires all elementary schools to screen every student in kindergarten and/or Grade 1 for reading difficulties.
  3. Please describe your board’s approach to early screening for English Language Learners (e.g. is it the same or different, and if different, how so and why).
  4. Please indicate what scientific evidence-based screening tools or tests your board has approved for early screening.
  5. If your board has not approved any scientific evidence-based screening tools or tests, please explain why not. Please advise if any other standardized tools are being used for early screening, and if so, provide them.
  6. Please describe:
    1. when screening for reading difficulties first occurs
    2. how often it occurs after that
    3. who conducts the screening
    4. how the results of each screening are recorded
    5. how the results of screening are used (e.g. are they used to offer accommodation or reading interventions, and if so, what percentile scores trigger offering accommodation or reading interventions), and
    6. what follow-up screening takes place to monitor how students are progressing.

 

  1. Reading interventions

  1. Please provide any documents, data or information explaining your board’s approach to reading interventions for students with reading disabilities or suspected reading disabilities, including any policies, procedures, directives, reading intervention programs used, training and professional development materials or anything else that addresses reading interventions.
  2. Does your board use a tiered approach to reading interventions? If so, please describe.
  3. What reading interventions are available in your board? Please be specific, i.e. list or describe each program and indicate which schools have it.
  4. Are students required to change schools to access reading intervention programs?
  5. What is the process for deciding which schools will have a reading intervention program and which program?
  6. Where does the funding for reading intervention programs come from?
  7. For each of the reading programs listed in 3(c) please indicate:
    1. In what grade or grades is the reading intervention program offered?
    2. Who delivers the reading intervention program? What training do they receive?
    3. How are students selected to take part in the reading intervention program? What are the eligibility requirements? Are specific assessments required (e.g. psycho-educational assessment, diagnosis of a reading disability)? Must the student be identified by an Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) or have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) to be eligible for a reading intervention program? Are the same selection criteria used for English Language Learners (if not, why not)?
    4. Are students offered the full program – for example, if the program calls for daily withdrawal support for a certain number of weeks, do students receive it daily and for the full duration? If not, what are the limitations and why?
    5. How long can students stay in the reading intervention program (e.g. months, years)? Is there a system for tracking student completion of the intervention program? Is there a system for tracking the effectiveness of the program for an individual student (e.g. tests administered before and after completion of the program)?
  8. Please provide any data, reviews, reports or assessments you may have that analyze the overall effectiveness or outcomes of any reading interventions your board offers.

 

  1. Accommodation

  1. Please provide any documents, data or information explaining your board’s approach to accommodating students with reading disabilities or suspected reading disabilities, including any policies, procedures, directives, training and professional development materials or anything else that addresses accommodating these students.
  2. What is required to obtain accommodations for reading disabilities or suspected reading disabilities? Is a psycho-educational assessment required? Is IPRC identification and recommendation required?
  3. How are IEPs used in relation to accommodating reading disabilities or suspected reading disabilities?
  4. Are reading interventions provided to a student before or while simultaneously providing accommodations for reading?
  5. Are reading interventions always provided to students before creating modified curriculum expectations within the IEP? Are accommodations always provided to students before creating modified curriculum expectations within the IEP? If not, why not?
  6. What accommodations are provided to students with reading disabilities or suspected reading disabilities? How is the accommodation process the same or different for English Language Learners?
  7. What assistive technology (both hardware and software) is available for use by students with reading disabilities or suspected reading disabilities? Does every student who requires assistive technology to accommodate their reading disability have access to it as needed? What support is available for students using assistive technology (e.g. are teachers trained in assistive technology and able to support its use by students with reading disabilities)?
  8. What quality assurance processes exist for IEPs and to ensure students have access to timely and effective accommodation?

 

  1. Psycho-educational assessments

  1. Please provide any documents, data or information explaining your board’s approach to psycho-educational assessments, including any policies, procedures, directives, training and professional development materials or anything else that addresses psycho-educational assessments.
  2. Please provide any documents or information indicating whether your board has established criteria to be applied when determining whether to recommend a student receive a psycho-educational assessment by a board psychologist. 
  3. How are decisions to recommend or not recommend a student for a board psycho-educational assessment made? Who makes the decision? What factors are considered? Are the criteria the same for English Language Learners?
  4. Who maintains and administers any wait lists for psycho-educational assessments (the board, individual schools, groups of schools)?
  5. Is there a restriction on the number of students who can be assessed in a year? Is there a restriction on the age or grade of the student before they will be considered for assessment?
  6. While students are waiting for assessment, do they have IEPs? Are they receiving accommodation?
  7. How many students are currently waiting for a psycho-educational assessment? Without providing the student’s name or Ontario Education Number, for every child waiting for assessment, please provide the date they were put on the list, what grade they were in when put on the list, and whether they have an IEP.
  8. Please provide your board’s data on the average amount of time it takes for a student to receive an assessment.

 

  1. Data collection

  1. What percentage of students in your board (in relation to the overall student population) have been identified as having special education needs (excluding gifted unless co-occurring with other special education needs)?
  2. What percentage of students in your board have been identified as having an LD exceptionality (i) in relation to the overall student population and (ii) in relation to students who have been identified as having special education needs (excluding gifted unless co-occurring with other special education needs)?  
  3. What percentage of students in your board have an IEP? What percentage of students with special education needs (excluding gifted unless co-occurring with other special education needs) have an IEP? What percentage of students with an LD have an IEP? What percentage of students in your board have an IEP for reading difficulties?
  4. Does your board collect data about students with reading disabilities or LDs including: gender identity, race, Indigenous ancestry, concurrent disabilities, total family income, what grade they were identified in, reading intervention programs they have taken part in, accommodations provided, and outcomes? If so, please provide this data.
  5. Does your board conduct a student census or collect demographic data about all students? If not, what plans, if any, does your board have for doing so in future?
  6. If your board conducts a student census, please provide the following for the most recent census conducted:
    1. A blank copy of the census form
    2. All data for each student who completed the census (please provide a unique number for each student, but not the student’s name or Ontario Education Number). As well, please link the census data with other data to indicate whether the student has an IEP, has been identified as having Special Education Needs, and/or has been identified as having an LD exceptionality
    3. For each student who completed the census in Grade 3, Grade 6 or Grade 10, please link the census data for that student to, and provide, the student’s results that year on the Grade 3 EQAO reading assessment, Grade 6 EQAO reading assessment, or Grade 10 OSSLT respectively.
  7. Provide the following based on the most recent data collected pursuant to your board’s voluntary self-identification policy for Indigenous students:
    1. The percentage of students who have self-identified as Indigenous overall and broken down by First Nation, Inuit, and Métis
    2. The board’s analysis of achievement (e.g. as related to literacy, course completion, graduation) for students who have self-identified as Indigenous overall and broken down by First Nation, Inuit, and Métis
    3. For each student who has identified as Indigenous in Grade 3, Grade 6 or Grade 10, the student’s results that year on the Grade 3 EQAO reading assessment, Grade 6 EQAO reading assessment, or Grade 10 OSSLT respectively (please provide a unique number for each student, but not the student’s name or Ontario Education Number)
    4. For each student who has self-identified as Indigenous, please provide any data on whether the student has an IEP, has been identified as having Special Education Needs, and/or has been identified as having an LD exceptionality (please provide a unique number for each student, but not the student’s name or Ontario Education Number).

 

  1. Terminology

  1. How does your board define an LD? Does your board break down LDs by sub-types (e.g. impairment in reading, impairment in writing, impairment in math, impairment in executive functioning)?
  2. Does your board use the term dyslexia? If so, why? If not, why not?

 

  1. EQAO

  1. What percentage of students with special education needs are excused from completing the reading component of each of the Grade 3 and Grade 6 EQAO tests?
  2. What percentage of students identified as having an LD exceptionality are excused from completing the reading component of each of the Grade 3 and 6 EQAO tests?
  3. Of students who were exempted from the reading component of the EQAO test in each of Grade 3 and 6, what proportion were identified as having an LD exceptionality?
  4. In each of Grades 3 and 6, for students with an LD exceptionality who took part in the reading component of the EQAO assessment:
    1. What percentage achieved the provincial standard (Level 3 or 4)? Among LD students who achieved the provincial standard, what percentage had test questions/materials read to them, used assistive technology, or used scribing?
    2. What percentage who did not have test questions/materials read to them, use assistive technology, or use scribing achieved the provincial standard?

 

  1. Outcomes

  1. What is the current dropout rate for all students in your board (i.e. students who according to records have not graduated, are no longer students of your board and have not transferred to another educational institution)? Among students who have an LD exceptionality, what is the current dropout rate? If available, please provide this information broken down by race, Indigenous ancestry, gender identity, family income and concurrent disabilities.
  2. What percentage of Grade 9 students who have an LD exceptionality are taking mostly applied versus academic courses? If available, please provide this information broken down by race, Indigenous ancestry, gender identity, family income and concurrent disabilities.
  3. What percentage of all graduates are accepted at college upon graduating? What percentage of graduates with an LD exceptionality are accepted at college upon graduating? What percentage of all graduates are accepted at university upon graduation? What percentage of graduates with an LD exceptionality are accepted at university upon graduation? If available, please provide this information broken down by race, Indigenous ancestry, gender identity, family income and concurrent disabilities.

 

  1. Professional development

  1. Please describe what in-service training or professional development your board has on teaching reading, literacy, early screening, signs of reading disabilities, reading interventions, the duty to accommodate under the Code, and special education.

Under section 31 of the Code, you are obligated to produce the documents and information noted above, and provide any assistance that is reasonably necessary, including assistance in using any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system, to produce a document in readable form. As well, under section 8 of the Code, anyone who takes part in our inquiry, including students, parents, educators, board professionals and board staff, must not be subjected to reprisal or threat of reprisal.

Pursuant to section 31 of the Code, subsections 38(2) and 39(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and section 32 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the OHRC is authorized to receive personal information in an inquiry. The OHRC has a Protection of personal information and privacy safeguards policy for this inquiry. We do not believe that this production request requires the disclosure of personal information, but to the extent that it may, we will work with you to address any privacy concerns raised.

This is not intended to be an exhaustive request, and the OHRC may ask your board to produce additional documents, data and information and to answer additional questions as the inquiry proceeds.

 

Next steps

Please have your staff contact [us] by no later than November 15, 2019 to discuss the process of providing the above-noted documents, data and information to the OHRC.

We recognize that some of the information being sought may not be available at the school board level. If that is the case, please let us know what information can only be provided by school principals or the Ministry of Education through its OnSIS school data management system by November 15, 2019.

We are developing an online survey for school principals. After we hear back from you about any information that can only be obtained from school principals, we will finalize the survey and send you a link so you can ask every elementary school principal to complete and submit it to the OHRC.

As the inquiry will also hear from students, parents and educators about people’s experiences with reading disabilities in public schools, I enclose an electronic copy of the OHRC’s Right to Read flyer and ask that you ensure it is posted in a prominent location in all of your schools and disseminated via the usual means of communication with teachers and parents/guardians.

The OHRC recognizes that school boards across the province have been working towards the goal of accessible education. We believe that the Right to Read inquiry will support these efforts.

We look forward to working with you and receiving your assistance in accordance with the requirements of the Code. In keeping with the OHRC’s commitment to public accountability and its duties in serving the people of Ontario, this letter and your response will be made public.

Sincerely,

 

Renu Mandhane, B.A., J.D., LL.M.
Chief Commissioner

 

cc:       OHRC Commissioners
            Hon. Doug Downey, Attorney General
            Hon. Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education

 

 

 

APPENDIX A

 

Inquiries

31. (1) The Commission may conduct an inquiry under this section for the purpose of carrying out its functions under this Act if the Commission believes it is in the public interest to do so.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Conduct of inquiry

(2) An inquiry may be conducted under this section by any person who is appointed by the Commission to carry out inquiries under this section. 2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Production of certificate

(3) A person conducting an inquiry under this section shall produce proof of their appointment upon request.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Entry

(4) A person conducting an inquiry under this section may, without warrant, enter any lands or any building, structure or premises where the person has reason to believe there may be documents, things or information relevant to the inquiry. 2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Time of entry

(5) The power to enter a place under subsection (4) may be exercised only during the place’s regular business hours or, if it does not have regular business hours, during daylight hours.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Dwellings

(6) A person conducting an inquiry under this section shall not enter into a place or part of a place that is a dwelling without the consent of the occupant.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Powers on inquiry

(7) A person conducting an inquiry may,

(a) request the production for inspection and examination of documents or things that are or may be relevant to the inquiry;

(b) upon giving a receipt for it, remove from a place documents produced in response to a request under clause (a) for the purpose of making copies or extracts;

(c) question a person on matters that are or may be relevant to the inquiry, subject to the person’s right to have counsel or a personal representative present during such questioning and exclude from the questioning any person who may be adverse in interest to the inquiry;

(d) use any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system used in carrying on business in the place in order to produce a document in readable form;

(e) take measurements or record by any means the physical dimensions of a place;

(f) take photographs, video recordings or other visual or audio recordings of the interior or exterior of a place; and

(g) require that a place or part thereof not be disturbed for a reasonable period of time for the purposes of carrying out an examination, inquiry or test.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Written demand

(8) A demand that a document or thing be produced must be in writing and must include a statement of the nature of the document or thing required.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Assistance

(9) A person conducting an inquiry may be accompanied by any person who has special, expert or professional knowledge and who may be of assistance in carrying out the inquiry.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Use of force prohibited

(10) A person conducting an inquiry shall not use force to enter and search premises under this section.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Obligation to produce and assist

(11) A person who is requested to produce a document or thing under clause (7) (a) shall produce it and shall, on request by the person conducting the inquiry, provide any assistance that is reasonably necessary, including assistance in using any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system, to produce a document in readable form.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Return of removed things

(12) A person conducting an inquiry who removes any document or thing from a place under clause (7) (b) shall,

(a) make it available to the person from whom it was removed, on request, at a time and place convenient for both that person and the person conducting the inquiry; and

(b) return it to the person from whom it was removed within a reasonable time.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Admissibility of copies

(13) A copy of a document certified by a person conducting an inquiry to be a true copy of the original is admissible in evidence to the same extent as the original and has the same evidentiary value.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Obstruction

(14) No person shall obstruct or interfere with a person conducting an inquiry under this section.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2006, c. 30, s. 4 - 30/06/2008

Search warrant

31.1 (1) The Commission may authorize a person to apply to a justice of the peace for a warrant to enter a place and conduct a search of the place if,

(a) a person conducting an inquiry under section 31 has been denied entry to any place or asked to leave a place before concluding a search;

(b) a person conducting an inquiry under section 31 made a request for documents or things and the request was refused; or

(c) an inquiry under section 31 is otherwise obstructed or prevented.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Same

(2) Upon application by a person authorized under subsection (1) to do so, a justice of the peace may issue a warrant under this section if he or she is satisfied on information under oath or affirmation that the warrant is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the inquiry under section 31.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Powers

(3) A warrant obtained under subsection (2) may authorize a person named in the warrant, upon producing proof of his or her appointment,

(a) to enter any place specified in the warrant, including a dwelling; and

(b) to do any of the things specified in the warrant.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Conditions on search warrant

(4) A warrant obtained under subsection (2) shall contain such conditions as the justice of the peace considers advisable to ensure that any search authorized by the warrant is reasonable in the circumstances.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Time of execution

(5) An entry under a warrant issued under this section shall be made at such reasonable times as may be specified in the warrant.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Expiry of warrant

(6) A warrant issued under this section shall name a date of expiry, which shall be no later than 15 days after the warrant is issued, but a justice of the peace may extend the date of expiry for an additional period of no more than 15 days, upon application without notice by the person named in the warrant.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Use of force

(7) The person authorized to execute the warrant may call upon police officers for assistance in executing the warrant and the person may use whatever force is reasonably necessary to execute the warrant.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Obstruction prohibited

(8) No person shall obstruct or hinder a person in the execution of a warrant issued under this section.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.

Application

(9) Subsections 31 (11)(12) and (13) apply with necessary modifications to an inquiry carried out pursuant to a warrant issued under this section.  2006, c. 30, s. 4.