Committee review of the Needs of ACT Students with a Disability - 30 recommendations

The ACT Standing Committee on Education, Training and Youth Affairs has released its review of the Needs of ACT Students with a Disability.

The report contains 92 pages and 30 recommendations. The report can be downlaoded from the ACT Government wensite ... see http://www.parliament.act.gov.au/downloads/reports/7th%20ETYA%2005%20disability%20student.pdf . The recommendations follow:

RECOMMENDATION 1

2.17 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training support the capacity for cross-sector dialogue and information and skills sharing on best practice in the delivery of disability education services between government and non-government education systems.

RECOMMENDATION 2

2.23 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training liaise with the non-government education sector to ensure consistency in the descriptors of educational services.

RECOMMENDATION 3

2.24 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training confer with the providers and users of educational services to ACT students with disabilities regarding any proposed changes to service names.

RECOMMENDATION 4

3.12 The Committee recommends that Individual Learning Plans should be developed as a formal benchmarking tool which will assist in the refinement of teaching strategies at the classroom level and be able to measure the level of success of schools in the delivery of educational services to students with disabilities.

RECOMMENDATION 5

3.18 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training investigate, develop and implement a system of objective educational measures of outcomes for students with a disability that would allow teaching strategies to be refined and system level planning to be undertaken.

RECOMMENDATION 6

3.19 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training investigate and implement a process by which general assessment outcomes for students with disability can be disaggregated in the results from key assessment programs such as the National Assessment Program (NAPLAN).

RECOMMENDATION 7

4.16 The Committee recommends that the ACT Government examines the proposal set out in the Review of Special Education in the ACT to adopt a broader definition of disability that is consistent with discrimination law and that the Minister for Education and Training report back to the Legislative Assembly.

RECOMMENDATION 8

4.23 The Committee recommends that the ACT Government review the ACT Discrimination Act 1991 to ensure consistency with the provisions set out in the Commonwealth Discrimination Act 1992.

RECOMMENDATION 9

5.24 The Committee recommends that the Minister for Education and Training provide an explanation to the Legislative Assembly as to why the estimated average cost of providing education services to students with disabilities in mainstream public schools has not been subject to the same cost pressures as other service delivery costs and why the percentage growth in this cost between 1999 and 2008 is nearly half that of other percentage estimate average cost growth.

RECOMMENDATION 10

5.29 The Committee recommends that a schematic representation of the definition and funding model used to allocate general school and specialist education funds in the ACT be provided to all parents and carers as a part of the documentation relating to resources available for students with a disability.

RECOMMENDATION 11

5.35 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training undertake a full review of the average cost associated with the delivery of education services to students with disability which provides better indications of:

• Costs of developing individual learning plans for all students who are identified as having a disability;
• Costs of assessing "reasonable adjustments" in the delivery of education services;
• Costs of training and resourcing teachers to implement "reasonable adjustments" in the delivery of the current curriculum; and
• Costs of maintaining Learning Support Units within mainstream schools.

RECOMMENDATION 12

6.3 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training undertake exit interviews with students with disability and their parents or carers who move from mainstream to special schools to identify common concerns or reasons for student movements.

RECOMMENDATION 13

6.12 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training provide details in the Annual Report of the delivery of special needs transport services including:

• Numbers of students accessing service;
• Numbers of trips per annum;
• Details of average and longest trips; and
• Adverse events on transport services.

RECOMMENDATION 14

6.29 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training provide information at enrolment about all available funding programs which may assist students with disabilities.

RECOMMENDATION 15

6.36 The Committee recommends that as a part of the review of School-Based Management funding arrangements the ACT Government ensure that the quantity of, and processes established for allocating, funding for students with disabilities within government schools be clearly articulated and monitored by the Department of Education and Training.

RECOMMENDATION 16

6.40 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training consider ways to improve the understanding of disability education services as a key indicator of administrative flexibility and responsiveness.

RECOMMENDATION 17

6.44 The Committee recommends that the ACT Government assess the best means of coordinating information sources for students with disabilities and their advocates.

RECOMMENDATION 18

7.11 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training review the timing of the Student Centred Appraisal of Need (SCAN) review process and establish a mechanism to ensure that the funding approach to allocate resources to students with specified disabilities will be focused towards maximising learning outcomes as proposed by the 2009 Review of Special Education in the ACT.

RECOMMENDATION 19

7.12 The Committee recommends that the students' needs for inclusive technology be assessed as a part of the Student Centred Appraisal of Need (SCAN) process.

RECOMMENDATION 20

7.18 The Committee recommends that Department of Education and Training Network Coordinators be required to report on the audit of Individual Learning Plans from schools in their areas and that outcomes of the audit process be detailed in the Annual Report.

RECOMMENDATION 21

7.21 The Committee recommends that the Minister for Education and Training review the use of consultants in government schools in light of the comments made in the 2009 Review of Special Education Services particularly in assessing the need for disability education consultants.

RECOMMENDATION 22

7.24 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training consider the need for a pilot program within the ACT education system for alternative class-room based disability teaching models.

RECOMMENDATION 23

7.34 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training review the role of Learning Support Assistants with the structure of the disability education sector with a view to formalising the role; assessing the appropriate staffing ratios; providing initial training and professional development opportunities; and clarifying duties within the classroom in terms of maximising the learning outcomes for students with disabilities.

RECOMMENDATION 24

7.35 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training, in reviewing the role of Learning Support Assistants, review the need for additional Indigenous Education Officers and Indigenous Learning Support Assistants to support the learning of Indigenous students with disabilities.

RECOMMENDATION 25

7.39 The Committee recommends that the Minister for Education and Training provide a statement to the Legislative Assembly on the outcomes of the service agreement between the Department of Education and Training and Therapy ACT and the effectiveness of this agreement in redressing the gap in services identified in the Review of Special Education in the ACT.

RECOMMENDATION 26

7.54 The Committee recommends that the ACT Government monitor the progress of the post-school options support provider (currently the House with no Steps) in providing planning supports to students with disabilities from at least year 9 and, if necessary, provide additional resources to facilitate early planning of post-school pathways for all students with disabilities.

RECOMMENDATION 27

7.55 The Committee recommends that the ACT Government ensure that the formula used to determine the allocation of funding for post-school options is based on the number of students graduating each year so that adequate services can be provided.

RECOMMENDATION 28

7.56 The Committee recommends that the Department of Education and Training include questions about access and effectiveness of post-school planning on the annual parent satisfaction survey.

RECOMMENDATION 29

7.63 The Department of Education and Training provide details of the external linkages established, including type of organisations, and the numbers of students attending the post-school options expo in the Annual Report.

RECOMMENDATION 30

7.64 The Department of Education and Training assess the impact of the changed vocational education structure on the pathways available to students with disabilities.