An analysis of educational placements and instructional strategies for children with learning disabilities in French and English school settings

The study examined the relationship between three educational placement categories for French and English speaking children with learning disabilities. The study presumed that program characteristics would be similar in full time special education classes, part-time special classes and integrated regular classes. The study also presumed that English speaking teachers' instructional approaches with learning disabled children were not different from French Teachers.

These premises were tested with ten null hypotheses, and the data was analyzed by a two-way analysis of variance.

Seventy-three special and regular education teachers at the Sudbury Catholic Board of Education completed a questionnaire, designed to identify program characteristics in the three placement categories for learning disabled children.

All of the ten hypotheses were rejected. The study found that French and English speaking teachers used different instructional approaches with their students, and that program characteristics differed in the three classes of special education.

The findings suggest the following: (1) French speaking teachers should not rely exclusively on test results when evaluating the needs of their students. (2) Educational needs for French speaking children with learning disabilities may not be properly identified as they are "tested" in a language other than their own. (3) There is a urgent need to develop psychological and educational diagnostic tests for Francophone students in the province of Ontario. (4) It appears that curriculum materials for Francophone students may not be as available as they are for Anglophone students and teachers. (5) Bill 82, should be modified to prohibit Ontario teachers from placing exceptional students in any given placement category on the basis of test results.