- by Michael Craig, Owen Sound trustee, representing his opinions, not official BWDS Board policy

As a trustee on the Bluewater Public board since last year, and as a member of the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), I have been inundated with data.  Dozens of reports tell me, for instance, about the work of our psychologists, mental health workers, attendance councillors and others:  the numbers of students they serve, the schools they visit and the number of total interactions.  All very informative, though after a 30-minute, non-stop presentation, it tends to be overwhelming.

But in my view what’s missing is data about outcomes. How quickly do we respond to identified needs, and what is accomplished when we do?  How are students progressing thanks to special education interventions?  Are many or most students whose marks are below average able to catch up, even excel, after getting the help they need?  How many graduate with their peers?

I asked these questions at a recent SEAC meeting, and suggested that the Committee and senior staff should compile more comprehensive data on outcomes;  essentially on the success and failure of our programs.  Unfortunately, that word ‘failure’ touches a nerve.  There appears to be very little appetite for examining data that will identify weaknesses and gaps in the system.  My proposal landed with a thud, and as a single trustee I am powerless.

It was suggested, first, that all the data we need already exists.  And, yes, this is true if all we want is the positive stuff.  Then the staff time required to assemble outcomes data was cited as a stumbling block.

Assessing outcomes in education is, I admit, rather complex.  We serve students with an extraordinary number of challenges, from hearing and vision deficits, to autism and dyslexia, to mental health problems, to moderate and severe learning disabilities.  Each category of student requires a specific set of questions and evaluations which would have to be quantified to determine how successfully, on the average, our programs are meeting their needs.  Difficult, I’m convinced, but not impossible!

Why is this so important?  Because data is, in short, the key to identifying strengths and weaknesses and promoting change.  Knowing where we are falling down is the first step towards pulling ourselves up.

A case in point is the alarming statistic that at present the Bluewater DSB has 291 children on a waiting list for special education assessment.  Kids and their parents wait nearly a year for action to address learning challenges, though I am informed that many interventions can begin before the formal assessment is completed. 

Trust me though, this lengthy delay is not because our dedicated psychologists and school principals don’t care.  Working full tilt, they are simply overwhelmed because provincial funding is inadequate;  we need more psychologists and other specialists.  Acknowledging that reality could lead to the need to lobby Queen’s Park for additional funding, something our Board tends to do rather politely through a province-wide association of public school boards.

So sometimes the problem is provincial because Queen’s Park tightly controls Board budgets.   In other cases, the weaknesses and gaps can be addressed at the local level with changes to programs and priorities.  That’s why we need the facts and figures, the data, to tell us where we’re at. 

At the SEAC meeting, I felt like a voice in the wilderness, sidelined by complacency.  But I am passionate in fighting for change.  I’ll hang in there!