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Prepared by the
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL STUDENT SERVICES PERSONNEL (APSSP)

Letter to Ontario Education Minister RE: APSSP Position on ISA

November 12, 2003

Dear Mr. Kennedy,

ISA has achieved its purpose. We believe that it is time for this process to end.

We are making this strong recommendation from our perspective as an association of professionals providing service to children in Ontario schools. A large part of our professional time over the past two years has been consumed in providing ISA baseline information to the Ministry . That baseline has now been well established in school boards across the entire province. Given the large size of the existing ISA sample, there is absolutely no reason to believe that the percentage of children meeting ISA criteria is going to change significantly, either provincially or within individual school boards.

Furthermore, the Ministry itself has stated that “….the profiles were intended to provide rough estimates of the prevalence in the school-age population of extremes of various conditions that impact on learning and was not intended as a tool for making critical decisions about individual students. (2003-04 ISA Questions and Answers, p.24)

ISA is now taking away support from those students it was intended to help. The large amount of professional time being used for ISA documentation would otherwise be dedicated to providing direct service to students. In addition, the backlog of assessments for needy students who do not meet ISA criteria is growing.

We understand that you have already made the commitment to end the ISA documentation process. The special needs of children that ISA has documented will continue to exist. Consequently, school boards must be assured of stable funding after ISA if we are to continue to provide adequate service to our most vulnerable students.

Sincerely,



Rick Townshend
Chairperson
Association of Professional Student Services Personnel