Assessment is a systematic process of gathering information from many people in order to make appropriate educational decisions for a student. It is a collaborative and progressive process designed to identify the student's strengths and needs, and results in the identification and implementation of selected educational strategies. Collaborative consultation is a process in which people work together to solve a common problem or address a common concern. Inclusion is the value system which holds that all students are entitled to equitable access to learning, achievement and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of their education. The practice of inclusion transcends the idea of physical location, and incorporates basic values that promote participation, friendship and interaction.
Integration is one of the major strategies used to achieve an inclusive philosophy.
Integration sees students with special needs included in educational settings with their peers who do not have special needs, and provided with the necessary accommodations and adaptations, determined on an individual basis, to enable them to be successful there. A modified program has learning outcomes which are substantially different from the prescribed curriculum, and specifically selected to meet the student's special needs. For example, a Grade 9 student in a modified math program could be focusing on functional computational skills in the context of handling money and personal budgeting. Or, in language arts, a Grade 5 student could be working on recognizing common signs and using the phone. In these examples the learning outcomes are substantially different from those of the curriculum for most other students.