ABA Specialists are professionals with training in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). In an educational setting, ABA specialists work with children with autism and related developmental disorders, and work collaboratively their families, school personnel and an interdisciplinary team of other professionals. ABA Specialists identify techniques for increasing useful behaviours and reducing those that may cause harm or interfere with learning. ABA techniques and principles are utilized to bring about meaningful and positive change in behaviour, and can produce improvements in communication, social relationships, play, self care, school and employment. In addition to providing intensive, individualized intervention to students, ABA Specialists provide consultation and training to students’ families and to the educational professionals who work with these students in the classroom. Related Links Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis (ONTABA)
Attendance Counsellors work collaboratively with school personnel, students, parents/guardians and an interdisciplinary team of other professionals to ensure that each child’s right to an education is protected.
The Attendance Counsellor has jurisdiction over and is responsible for the enforcement of compulsory school attendance with respect to every child who is required to attend school (ages 6 to 18). However, as implied by the title, the role is primarily that of a counsellor. It is important, therefore, that the attendance counsellor not be expected to act as an enforcer or used as a threat. Attendance counsellors perform the duties and carry out the responsibilities of a school attendance counsellor as set down in the Education Act and the Ministry of Education and Training Regulation 308/92 and Bill 52 pertaining to Compulsory Education:
Attendance counsellors may hold a range of academic qualifications including a Community College Diploma, an Undergraduate Degree or Masters Degree in a related field. Attendance Counsellors may be registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. Attendance Counsellors may be certified members of the Ontario Association for Counselling and Attendance Services (O.A.C.A.S.) which is a provincial organization representing counsellors working in the area of school attendance counselling and/or be recognized as a Ministry of Education Attendance Counselling Specialist.
Related Links
Ontario Association for Counselling and Attendance Services (O.A.C.A.S.)
Audiologists are professionals with Master’s-level training in the prevention, identification, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of hearing impairments.
In an educational setting, an audiologist has the role of interpreting and integrating audiological information so that students with hearing loss can maximize their learning potential in the classroom. Audiologists interpret hearing assessment results and their implications, evaluate the need for, selection of, orientation to and care and maintenance of FM systems, and make recommendations about classroom placement and planning. Audiologists also provide counseling to students and parents regarding all aspects of hearing loss and (re)habilitation, and work with classroom teachers and other professionals to develop an understanding of the relationship of hearing and hearing loss to the development of academic skills. Audiologists are registered by the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO).
College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO)
Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA)
Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (OSLA)
Ontario Association of Child and Youth Counsellors
Communicative Disorders Assistants (CDA) are professionals with a post-graduate diploma in Communication Disorders.
Community Relations Officers (CRO) act as a link between the home, school and community. Their major functions are to create, coordinate, administer and oversee various programs such as:
The Community Relations Officers work closely with a variety of organizations encouraging parents to become fully involved with the education of their children.
The mandate of Educational Research within the school board is to inform decision-making to help ensure efficient delivery of educational services in individual schools and system-wide. We provide professional expertise and information in educational research:
Research Associates: We are a group of professionals with post graduate degrees at the Masters or PhD level with extensive professional training in large-scale project management and research design, advanced statistical analysis, research information technology, professional writing and teaching (spanning from kindergarten to university), literacy development and cognitive/educational psychology and applications. Services we provide include:
Educational Accountability
School and Program Effectiveness
Educational Research
Related Links The Association of Educational Researchers of Ontario (AERO)
Librarians have a minimum education four-year Honours Bachelor degree, and a two-year Masters Degree in Library / Information Science (MLIS, MIS or MLS). The Masters degree must be earned through a university with American Library Association accreditation. Services include:
Librarians also serve the school community by performing the following functions:Helping staff and students locate and select reading materials to meet academic demands and cultivate a love of reading.
Related Links Ontario Library Association (OLA) American Library Association (ALA) Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada
Occupational therapists (OTs) are health-care professionals with Master’s-level training. In an educational setting, OTs work with students, their families, school personnel and an inter-disciplinary team of other professionals. OTs provide assessment to assist in identifying barriers to a student’s participation in the daily occupations of life (self care, academic and leisure), and develop interventions and strategies to enable engagement in everyday living (including normal growth and development, feeding, play, social skills, and education) OTs help with:
Related Links Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists (OSOT)
Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialists are vision professionals working as members of a multi-disciplinary team who provide O&M assessment, development of recommendations, and instruction to blind & low vision personsInstruction is provided to maximize safe and independent travel in familiar and unfamiliar, simple and complex environments. O&M Specialists conduct assessment of functional vision to enable instruction in proper use of prescribed low vision aids. Orientation and Mobility instruction includes:
Qualified Orientation and Mobility Specialists possess a Bachelor’s degree with a post-graduate diploma in Orientation and Mobility.
These centres are school-based programs where parents/caregivers and children, birth to six years of age, participate in play-based activities that focus on the development of early literacy and numeracy skills. The facilitators help promote positive parent-child interactions, offer a family literacy program that develops early literacy and numeracy skills, help increase parent’s knowledge, involvement and comfort with schools, they help with transition to school and with the early identification of children with special needs. We are a group of professionals with post graduate degrees in psychology at the Masters or PhD level. Extensive professional training in child and adolescent development, principles of learning and motivation, research, personal counseling, and assessment and diagnosis of academic, learning, behavioural, and personal problems. We work together on multidisciplinary teams with teachers, parents, children and adolescents, to understand, prevent, and solve problems, and to promote mental health and effective environments for learning. Psychology staff must be registered through the Ontario College of Psychologists or must work under the supervision of registered staff, and are subject to Codes of Professional Ethics and Standards of Practice. Services include:
Related Links College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) Ontario Association of Psychological Associates (OAPA)
Settlement counsellors help newcomers to Canada understand their rights and responsibilities and find the programs and services they need. Settlement counsellors meet with clients, assess their needs and give them support and information. Settlement counsellors may also help clients make plans for employment, education, housing, health care and more. In an educational setting, settlement counsellors may contact newcomer parents (and youth in secondary schools) to assist them with their settlement needs; refer families to more specialized community resources as needed; provide information sessions for newcomer youth and parents, often in partnership with school staff; and provide orientation about the settlement needs of newcomers for school staff.
As members of an interdisciplinary team, School Social Workers help students, their families, and school personnel deal with various issues that may interfere with a student’s achievement in school. This may include social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties which interfere with a student’s educational experience. School Social Workers provide many of the following services: counselling, group work, consultations, assessments, classroom interventions, referrals to community resources, advocacy, attendance counselling, crisis intervention, student and parent education programs, prevention programs, staff professional development, and community and policy development. School Social Workers may hold a range of academic qualifications including Doctorate of Social Work (Ph.D. or D.S.W), Master of Social Work (M.S.W.), and Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.). All School Social Workers subscribe to a set of professional ethics and must be registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
Related Links Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers Ontario Association of Social Workers Canadian Association of Social Workers
The interpreter’s primary function is to provide interpreting to Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, their classmates and educational staff in their schools.Other duties of a Sign Language Interpreter may include:
Qualifications:
Related Links Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC)
Speech-language pathologists are professionals with Master’s-level training in human communication development and disorders, and have expertise in consultation, classroom-based programming, assessment and intervention. In an educational setting, speech-language pathologists help teachers and parents to understand the oral communication needs of children and the direct impact of these needs on academic and social/emotional development. Speech-language pathologists provide assessment in the areas of oral and written language and literacy and work with teachers to develop curriculum-based strategies to address the learning needs of students in the classroom. Speech-language pathologists also provide in-service training for teachers and other professionals and develop resource materials to support teachers, parents and students. Speech-language pathologists are registered by the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO).
Related Links College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO)Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA)Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (OSLA)