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Special Projects
Ties That Bind
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A Pittance of Time
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Celebrate Life |
That All May Read
This House Has Room
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To The Children
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Merci Louis
Special Education Initiative in Alberta
Terry was pleased to recently write and record a new composition, “This
House Has Room”, in support of the Setting the Direction for Special
Education in Alberta initiative. The song opened and closed the June 8 &
9/09 Minister’s Forum - in Edmonton, Alberta at the Shaw Conference
Centre. Edmonton’s Meridian Heights Select Voice Choir accompanied the
piece as part of the closing.
Setting the Direction is an important project to create a new framework to
ensure Alberta students with special education needs get the supports they
need to be successful.
Phase 1 of the project in November and December 2008, featured
province-wide consultations on the vision and principles that should
govern Alberta’s special education programming and delivery. Public forums
were conducted in 10 Alberta communities to hear from individuals and
groups through online and paper submissions.
Phase 1 consultation involved input from approximately 3,500 Albertans who
represent the views of parents and guardians, teachers, school
administrators, school authority staff, school board trustees, teacher
assistants, community support organizations and health care professionals.
Phase 2 of Setting the Direction, featured province-wide consultations to
affirm the vision and principles that should govern Alberta’s special
education programming and delivery and provided an overview of five
building blocks that could herald positive and important change (high
expectations for all students, using strengths and abilities to drive
programming, building capacity for staff and the learning team,
collaborating for learner success and accessing learning resources and
technologies for the 21st Century)
Phase 2 consultation involved input from approximately 6,000 Albertans who
represent the views of parents and guardians, elders, teachers, school
administrators, school authority staff, school board trustees,
post-secondary representatives, students, teacher assistants, community
support organizations and health care professionals.
During Phase 3 (the Minister’s Forum June 8 & 9), phase 1 and 2 input was
synthesized to inform the Steering Committee’s proposed Framework. Forum
participants had the opportunity to hear from experts in the special
education field and ask questions and comment on the proposed framework.
Involvement by First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) people in both the
on-line and the community consultation process was limited; therefore the
Setting the Direction Steering Committee and the Project Team consulted
with FNMI staff within various Ministries on the location and format of
the dialogue, and five additional FNMI-specific community sessions were
held across Alberta including: Lethbridge, Calgary, St. Paul, Edmonton,
and High Prairie.
From there, the project steering committee will make final recommendations
to the Minister of Education. If adopted, the framework is scheduled for
implementation in September 2010.
Click here for additional information on Setting the Direction
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