The Halton District School Board is committed to the principle that learning is a developmental process and students proceed through the stages of development at varying rates. The HDSB is also committed to the principle that early recognition of learning needs and early intervention is the most effective way to ensure the student remains confident about his/her abilities as a learner and engaged in learning in years to come. Many professionals in the Halton District School Board provide support to students with special needs.
Special Education Plan
The Student Services department in consultation with the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) prepares an annual
Special Education Plan (If you require assistance with this PDF document, please contact Lorna Goodrow at goodrowl@hdsb.ca). This plan is reviewed and approved by the Board of Trustees and submitted to the Ministry of Education.
Working Together
A Guide for Parents, called
Working Together is available to parents, guardians and students about the Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) process in Halton. The document sets out the procedures involved in “identifying" a student as exceptional. The Individual Education Plan (IEP) outlines information relating to the IEP when initiating discussions with parents about a student having an IEP or upon parental request.
Grade 4 Abilities Screening
The Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test 7 (CCAT7) will be administered to grade 4 students in the Halton District School Board in October 2020. The CCAT7 is an abilities screening tool that will provide reliable and valid information to help teachers further develop class profiles and program for students. This assessment will also assist in the gifted screening process.
Grade 4 teachers will be providing an opportunity for students to try a sample practice test prior to writing the actual test. This way, they can be familiarized with the testing format and the type of answer sheet used. The test is multiple choice with a computer answer sheet (bubbles to fill in). This is all that is necessary to prepare for this assessment, no extra studying or preparation is required.
The test is divided up into 3 sections: Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal.
Verbal
| Words
| vocabulary and verbal memory word relationships and comprehension of ideas acquired knowledge make comparisons and categorize verbal concepts
|
Quantitative
| Numbers
| |
Nonverbal | Spatial | |
Each section will take about 45 mins to administer and will be completed on 3 separate days.
After the grade 4 students have completed the CCAT7, their student answer sheets will be scored by Nelson Education LTD - Canada. Nelson has a privacy policy and takes customer privacy very seriously. If you would like to view the Nelson privacy policy, please ask your school administrator for the link. The results of the CCAT7 will be shared with your child’s Classroom Teacher, Special Education Resource Teacher (SERT) and Administrator and will be placed in your child’s Ontario Student Record (OSR). A copy of your child’s results will also be sent to you in late November. Using these results, select students may continue on in the Gifted Screening Process. Please see the Gifted Screening Process Timeline on the back of this letter for more information.
Grade 4 Gifted Screening Timeline 2021-22
Month | Grade 4 Gifted Process Timeline
|
September/ October
| - Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test 7 (CCAT7) training for school staff
- Parents/Guardians of grade 4 students are informed of the dates that the CCAT7 will be administered
- Grade 4 students will be familiarized with multiple choice format of the CCAT7 by completing the practice tests
- The CCAT7 is administered to Grade 4 students mid - late October
|
November | - Schools receive the CCAT7 results in November
- Parents will receive a copy of their child’s CCAT7 results in late November
- Parents will be informed if their child has met the HDSB CCAT7 criteria to continue on with the gifted screening process
|
December | - Gifted Profile Summary Sheets are prepared using results to date
- School Resource Team (SRT) Meeting to review select CCAT7 results and discuss programming. Recommendations will be made about which Gr. 4 students:
- May be identified as gifted without further assessments (Category 1)
- Will require an psycho-educational assessment: The Wechsler Intellectual Scale for Children (WISC) to determine giftedness (Category 2)
- Do not meet the requirements for gifted identification, but may benefit from extended programming
- Consent to be obtained for additional testing
|
January/ February | - Individual Wechsler Intellectual Scale for Children (WISC) assessments are administered
- Results to be shared with parents by the end of February
- Results will be shared with the school with parents permission
|
March/April | - Schools will hold an SRT and with parental input:
- Recommendations are made regarding:
- Gifted Identification
- Placement: Resource Support or Gifted Self Contained Gifted
- Gifted Self Contained Referral Forms are filled out and sent to Student Services for any student who is recommended for a gifted self-contained placement
- Parents and students are invited to a Gifted Information Session at the area school where the gifted self-contained classes are located
|
May/June
| - Identification Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) Meetings
- Makes the final decision about all identifications and placements in HDSB
|