Guiding Benchmarks:

The benchmarks below, which guide our practice, are from the document: Evaluation and Reflection: Measuring Quality and Practice of Inclusive Post Secondary Education.

This evaluation tool, developed by Inclusion Alberta under contract to the Alberta Ministry of Seniors and Community Supports, was authored by John O'Brien, Trish Bowman, Billie Chesley, E, Anne Hughson and Bruce Uditsky.  The benchmarks come from years of reflection and experience; the questions associated with the benchmarks below are all ours.

Benchmarks: Inclusive Post Secondary Education

  1. Students are fully engaged in class learning experiences:
    1. Effective initiatives work to ensure that students have the same learning experience in class as their fellow students.” 
      1. Does this ring true in the work we do?
    2. Do we encourage students to participate in all of the learning experiences the course offers?
      1. If not, why?
      2. What is the difference in 'meaning' between learning and being present?
  2. Students belong to their class
    1. Instructors should take responsibility for their student as they would for any other student.
      1. Does this happen?
      2. How can we make this happen more often?
    2. How do we influence instructors/classmates to see the student as a full member of the class?
      1. What value do students bring to classrooms?
      2. How do we find out what is going on in classrooms?
    3. How do we build and maintain connections between instructors and other faculty or admin?
      1. Who are the allies you've found on your campuses?
    4. How do we avoid the class seeing students as guests or 'special' or charity?
      1. Is the classroom address about BC-IPSE useful or harmful?
      2. What tactics do you use?
    5. Remember: Dealing with problems together is a powerful way to build alliances
  3. Students pursue a coherent course of study
    1. Convocation conversation
      1. Where are we at on all the different campuses?
    2. What is the connection between being embedded in a department and the way it shapes your identity?
      1. What does this mean for the alumni experience?
  4. Students benefit from and contribute to campus life
    1. Students belong when they take part in campus activities and build friendships and social connections and communicate their belonging back to their community in their choice of activities, dress and language.
      1. What are examples of this on your campus
    2. What is the “standard” for education?
      1. How do we measure this?
  5. Students pursue and inclusive life path after graduation
    1. For graduates, how is this working out?
    2. For soon to be/new graduates what are we doing to set this up?
    3. How does our current funding situation play into this?
  6. Families provide leadership for inclusive post-secondary education and life-long inclusion
    1. How can we work to engage families more?
    2. What is working so far?
    3. Have we asked why families are not engaging?
  7. The initiative is embedded
    1. What are the pros/cons of being embedded?
    2. How does this work in your community?
    3. What allies are helpful for this?
  8. The initiative is safeguarded
    1. If we disappeared, would there be other allies who support it?
    2. How do we ensure this doesn't turn into a human service model?
    3. How does the initiative meet human service models and minimize their effect?
  9. The initiative supports an 'authentic' student experience
    1. What IS an authentic student experience?
    2. How do we ensure we're not normalizing?