The following ministry policy documents outline program requirements for all elementary and secondary schools, and all students, including students with special education needs, in Ontario.

  • Creating Pathways to Success: An Education and Career/Life Planning Program for Ontario Schools – Policy and Program Requirements, Kindergarten to Grade 12 (2013) sets out the career development policy for Ontario schools, which involves the implementation of a comprehensive Kindergarten to Grade 12 education and career/life planning program designed to help students achieve their personal goals and become competent, successful, and contributing members of society.
  • Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements (2016) sets out the requirements that govern the policies and programs of publicly funded elementary and secondary schools throughout Ontario. Section 3.3 (“Students with Special Education Needs”), section 3.4 (“Provincial and Demonstration Schools”), section 3.5 (“Education Programs for Students in an Education and Community Partnership Program (ECPP) (formerly known as Care and/or Treatment, Custody and Correctional programs”)), and section 7.4 (“Alternative [Non-Credit] Courses”) are of particular relevance to educators working with exceptional students, but the policies outlined throughout the document are relevant to all students, including students with special education needs. Other sections of particular interest are as follows:
    • Section 6.1.3 (“The Secondary School Literacy Graduation Requirement”), along with Appendix 3 (“The Secondary School Literacy Graduation Requirement – Accommodations, Special Provisions, Deferrals, and Exemptions”), Sections 1, 3, and 4. (The policies outlined in PPM No. 127, “The Secondary School Literacy Graduation Requirement”, 2009, are incorporated here.)
    • Section 6.4, “The Certificate of Accomplishment”
    • Section 7.2.5, “Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)”
    • Section 10.1, “E-Learning”
  • The Ontario curriculum policy documents for the various subjects and disciplines provide grade-by-grade expectations for students in elementary and secondary schools in Ontario. In each of the elementary and secondary curriculum policy documents, there is a section summarizing policies and approaches related to planning programs for students with special education needs, including those who require accommodations only and those who require modified expectations as well as accommodations.
  • Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools – First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12 (2010) sets out policies and practices related to assessment, evaluation, and reporting in all schools and for all students. Chapter 6 (“Reporting Student Achievement”) and Chapter 7 (“Students with Special Education Needs: Modifications, Accommodations, and Alternative Programs”) outline policies and practices for assessment, evaluation, and reporting that are specific to students with special education needs. In conjunction with the release of The Kindergarten Program (2016), the ministry has released the policy document Growing Success – The Kindergarten Addendum: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2016).
  • Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework (2007) provides the strategic policy context within which the Ministry of Education, school boards, and schools will work together to improve the academic achievement of Indigenous students.

The following ministry resource documents also contain information relevant to special education.