Understanding the Accessibility Challenges at Laurier

Research Note originally published March 2024  |  Contributed by Jeanette Parsons, Director of Accessible Learning, Wilfrid Laurier University

The pedagogical challenge: Understanding the barriers to student learning

Faculty working to ensure that students can fully engage with, and benefit from, their carefully planned course activities and assessments face a changing and increasingly complex learning landscape. The lasting impacts of the COVID crisis on the mental health and levels of anxiety of our students, significant changes to modes of instruction, and the legacy of “unfinished learning” (Allegrant, 2023; Bates, 2023; Dorn et al., 2021) have all contributed to this complexity. To reach all students in our classes, it is important that we understand the physical, technological, and cultural barriers affecting student learning. Doing so helps Laurier meet its legislative obligations under the Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act while advancing inclusive learning experiences for all students.

Research Insights

Special Education on the Rise in Ontario

In 2021, 24% of Ontario high school students received special education supports (i.e., they were issued an Individual Education Plan, or IEP). Between 2017 and 2021, Ontario high school enrollment increased by 1.3% while the percentage of secondary students with IEPs increased by 4.1% (143, 905 to 149, 925). Over the same period, the number of students granted an IEP without formal identification through the Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) process in Ontario high schools grew from 41% to 46% (Government of Ontario, 2018, 2024).

Many Ontario high school students with an informal IEP are students with disabilities but not all these students have disability verification documentation. School boards can also grant non-disabled students IEPs if the board determines they need support to attend school or meet academic expectations (Ministry of Education, 2024).

Academic Accommodation in Ontario Universities

In 2017-18, there were 42,376 students with disabilities registered with Ontario university accessibility offices or 9% of the total headcount. By 2021-22, registrations with accessibility offices had increased by 37% to 58,245 students, or 12% of total headcount (Lanthier et al., 2023).

In 2021-22, it is notable that students with mental health disabilities made up 40% of all students and were by far the largest of all disabilities. The next two largest groups were students with learning disabilities (18%) and those with attention disabilities (15%) (Kumaresh 2023).

Transition from High School to University

Unlike K-12 schools, Ontario universities are legally entitled to documented evidence of a disability before granting academic accommodations. Universities may grant interim accommodations until a student obtains updated documentation but can rescind these after one or two terms if documentation is not submitted.  

The difference in disability documentation requirements between high school and university is one of the main reasons why students who qualify for an IEP in high school may not qualify for accommodations at university. This is because:

• They may not have a disability.
• Their disability does not result in access barriers for which they need accommodations.

The transition to university can also result in the loss or reduction of accommodations for some students with disabilities. A study that compared university accommodations to their high school IEP for 71 students found that:

• 86% received 6.34 fewer accommodations at university as compared to high school.
• Extra time was the most common accommodation in both settings.
• Most of the participants received less extra time in university than what they received in high school.
• Students who received accommodations involving individualized instructional support from a teacher received significantly fewer accommodations at university compared to students without these accommodations in high school (Parsons et al., 2020).

The changes in accommodations for these students were also correlated with a lower GPA and increased likelihood of failing a course in their first year of university studies (Parsons et al., 2021).

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