Every Student Counts Survey
The Every Student Counts Survey is a student census that was conducted in late 2018 in every York Region District School Board school. In 2020, the Overall Board Results were released. During the summer and fall of 2021, data from the Every Student Counts Survey will be released in a series of themed research reports.
The ESCS follows Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan and Ontario's Anti Racism Data Standards to identify and eliminate systemic barriers to student success, create more equitable and inclusive school environments, and improve student achievement and well-being. This series of research reports is the result of a comprehensive community engagement. Learn more about our approach to reviewing the data and developing the reports.
Special Education
View Report: Special Education (PDF)
The Special Education Themed report examines the structures and processes of Special Education in YRDSB; as well as, the demographics (identities) and achievement characteristics of students in Special Education programs.
Although YRDSB’s Special Education planning, program development and service delivery processes have a strong tradition of including students with special needs as an integral part of our culture, findings from the ESCS Special Education report points to disproportionalities, that is, inequities, in student experiences and outcomes based on socio-demographic characteristics including, but not limited to, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, exceptionalities, program of study and suspensions. The following are the Snapshot Findings from the ESCS Special Education Themed Report 2018-19:
- Overall, 16% of students in YRDSB were identified with an exceptionality. The vast majority of students with Special Education Needs were identified with a Learning Disability (6% of all students).
- Nearly 90% of students without Special Education Needs accumulated 30 or more credits in Grade 12, while only 80% of students with Special Education needs (excluding Gifted) accumulated 30 plus credits.
- Eighty-seven percent (87%) of students with Special Education Needs accumulated 8 or more credits in Grade 9, while 95% of students without Special Education needs accumulated eight or more credits.
- The decision to enroll students in the Grade 9 Applied program of study had strong implications for students’ futures regarding post-secondary access. Most Grade 9 students with Special Education needs are placed in courses at the Applied and Locally Developed levels.
- Students who had a Gifted exceptionality had the lowest suspension rates, while those who had other Special Education needs had the highest suspension rates (Grades 3 -12) and were highly over-represented with a disproportionality index of 2.87.
- Students who self-identified as Black, Latino/Latinx, Middle Eastern, South Asian and Indigenous students were under-represented in the Gifted exceptionality.
Drawing on findings from the ESCS 2018-19, the aim of this report is to prompt critical dialogue that will contribute to positive change for students who experience inequities at an individual level and, as a result, have historically been underserved, with the intention of better serving these students.
To address these inequities YRDSB will:
- Place the individual student at the centre of our actions.
- Conduct interdisciplinary “In-school Team Meetings” that focus on proactive interventions and supports.
- Ensure active family and student voice in the proactive planning to support students.
- Move to phase two of the Executive Function Pilot and empower students through the realization of the strengths they bring to learning and how they can build critical executive functioning skills.
- Engage in anti-oppressive assessment practices that are evidence-informed, culturally responsive and identity-affirming from a strengths-based approach with an emphasis on mattering and belonging.
- Provide culturally relevant and responsive care and education as well as ensure family-friendly and translated communications.
- Engage in an interdepartmental review of effectiveness and appropriateness of the Student Support Centre structure.
- Support de-streaming of math through a pilot geared towards closing the learning gaps for students in a Student Support Centre placement for math.
- Ensure the full implementation of the EA Strategy in order to maximize inclusion and support barrier-free access to meaningful education for all students.
- Continue to support the Empower Reading program to support students with severe learning disabilities with learning to read.
- Support system understanding and appropriate application of mitigating circumstances when considering suspension and expulsion of students with Special Education Needs.
- Create and implement a protocol to support school-based teams with decisions about modified days and exclusions for students with Special Education Needs.
- Review Special Education Placement options within the Board to ensure equitable access to services for all students.
- Examine the impact of intersecting social identities for students with Special Education Needs in the areas of programming, services and supports.
- Address and reduce disproportionality of representation where it exists in Special Education programs and identifications.
- Build collaborative relationships with external organizations and agencies that provide critical services to students with Special Education Needs (e.g., Children’s Treatment Network, Kinark, Mackenzie Health).
- Update the Learning Disabilities Strategic Plan to ensure alignment with goals within the Director’s Action Plan (DAP).
The Director’s Action Plan goals focus on raising the learning outcomes of students who are underserved and underperforming. This aligns with the Ministry of Education’s Learning for All, which outlines that “assistance targeted at a specific group can help everyone”. When we focus on raising the learning outcomes and well-being of students who are underserved and underperforming, all students benefit.