More support needed for special needs students in Alberta: report

Watch above: Support for teachers with special needs students has gone down in Alberta over the past five years, according to a blue ribbon panel. Tom Vernon has more.

EDMONTON – A new report on inclusive education in Alberta has found the provincial government is not providing enough resources for teachers who have children with special needs in their classrooms.

Five years ago, the Alberta Government outlined framework that saw special needs students moved out of separate programs and into traditional classrooms.

Since then, the Alberta Teachers’ Association says it has heard ongoing concerns about the state of inclusion in Alberta schools. As a result, an eight-person Blue Ribbon Panel was formed in 2013, to look into the state of education for students with special needs.

On Wednesday, the panel released its findings, saying the government’s framework was inadequately implemented.

“The basic structure is sound. The problem has been with the implementation,” said Blue Ribbon Panel chair Marc Arnal, former dean of Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta.

The panel says the province has given teachers more complex classrooms with inadequate supports, which includes everything from a lack of professional development, to not enough aides. The ATA says the shortage of resources is having a direct impact in the classroom.

“Teachers have identified increasing complexity of classrooms and inadequate supports for students as the biggest issues they face. The Blue Ribbon panel’s work gives us, as stakeholders in education, a roadmap for working together to improve education for all students,” says ATA president Mark Ramsankar.

Sherry Elgert, who has a daughter with special needs in Grade 5, says the teacher struggles to keep up with the class of 22: 17 boys and five girls.

“The teacher is stretched thin,” Elgert said Wednesday. “She’s using her assistant for a lot of other things as well and it’s just not enough support. The teachers are way overworked. There’s way too much for them to handle.”

A spokesperson with Alberta Education says the ministry is reviewing the report, but insists it is committed to inclusive education, saying more than $400 million is spent every year to support it.

In its report, the Blue Ribbon Panel has outlined 38 recommendations for stakeholders, including more consistent and transparent communication, more time and professional development for teachers, and that the government provide sustained funding for inclusive education.

On top of that, the panel suggests establishing multiple inclusive education advisory committees.

“What is outlined in the beginning of the report is the talk about creating guiding groups at the district level, the government level and the school level to look specifically at the needs that would be unique to each site across the province,” said Ramsankar.

“Countries all over the world are dealing with the same issues related to equity and inclusivity for students with special needs,” added Arnal. “Alberta has the opportunity right now to grasp this global issue and become a world leader on one of the most important educational issues of our time.”

You can read the entire report on inclusive education below:

Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Inclusive Education in Alberta Schools.

With files from Ton Vernon, Global News.