Providing the best possible education for all young people means having students with intellectual disabilities take their rightful place at school. The CASP-I Education Program: A Competency-Based Approach to Social Participation (CASP-I) is for students aged 6 to 15, and has been designed primarily to meet the needs of students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities (MSID). The CASP-I Education Program targets the development of five competencies that enable students to acquire the knowledge and skills required for greater social participation and to develop self-determined behaviours. The development of competencies and the acquisition of knowledge take place in specific learning contexts, namely the program’s five life areas. These areas make what the students learn in class more meaningful, anchoring students’ learning in concrete, everyday life situations.

The CASP-I Education Program prepares students to continue their learning through the CASP-II Education Program, for students aged 16 to 21. The CASP-II Program, which is currently under development, is intended to meet these young people’s needs so that they can both live in and become active members of their community.

Evaluation of Learning

Students enrolled in the CASP-I Education Program are exempt from the provisions of sections 30.1, 30.2 and 30.3 of the Basic school regulation for preschool, elementary and secondary education pertaining to results.

The Guide to the Evaluation of Learning is made available to schools to help teachers with the task of evaluating the competencies targeted by the CASP-I Education Program and conveying information to parents.

The results recorded in section 2 of the report card must be expressed in the following double-entry format:

Level of competency:

Degree of support provided by an adult:

The scales of competency levels to be used in evaluating these competencies can be found in the Guide to the Evaluation of Learning.

For the competency Communicates, the teacher’s judgment with respect to the competency level attained by the student can be qualified by adding the symbol + to the level that corresponds most closely to the competency demonstrated by the student. In assigning a score of 3+, for example, the teacher indicates that the student is able to communicate orally with or without a communication assistance tool and can also understand and produce written messages. The judgment, which is entered in the Observations section of the report card, must be accompanied by comments that back it up.

The addition of the symbol + to levels 3, 4 and 5 applies only to the competency Communicates. This is an adaptation of the original model and is intended to ensure that the scale associated with this competency makes it possible to monitor the progress of students who have problems writing but whose oral communication skills continue to develop.

The competencies to be evaluated each term are determined in the standards and procedures established by the school. The following procedures must be respected:

• Each term, at least two competencies are graded on the report card.
• Over a two-year period, the report card shows at least two results for each competency.
• Every two years, as well as when a student completes elementary school or is streamed into another program, the report card for the last term of the school year shows the student’s level of development and the degree of support required by the adult for all of the program competencies.