Raffaele Ciambrone Directorate for Students Italian Ministry of Education Florence May 31, 2012

The Italian school Students with disabilities : (1) Students with specific learning disorder : ca (2) (1) data from Ministry of Education, 2010/2011 (2) according to the epidemiological study carried out by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità

Italian legislation about special needs education most advanced legislation, even though there are different and non homogenous levels of application on the territory, due to the service and finance organization other than human resource allocation.

Italian legislation about special needs education students inclusion is realized through the cooperation among ministries, regions, provinces and municipalities.

Italian legislation about special needs education The connection in common classes was realized in 1977 with law no. 517

Public spending It has been calculated that the Ministry itself spends over 4 billion euros for students inclusion, To which must add the local entity spending.

The “New technologies and disabilities” - NTD project started in 2006 Co-funded with a budget of 10 million euros by the Ministry of Education and CNIPA, National Centre for the Computerization of the Public Administration structured in 7 action fields

The NTD project First and second action : creation of a database for the supporting devices due to handicap. These two actions have been entrusted to INDIRE, that created the HANDITECNO portal

The NTD project third action: accessibility of websites, according to law no. 9/2004 Entrusted to CNR

The NTD project fourth and fifth action: CTS and operators’ training creation

The NTD project Sixth action: financed research projects carried out by schools. have been realized 26 free didactic software that can be downloaded from the MIUR website. (Greek vocabulary with vocal synthesis, etc.)

The NTD project Seventh action: Dyslexia and other specific learning disorders

The NTD project: CTS - Centre for Territorial Support With law no.170/2010 on specific learning disorders, it was decided to empower CTSs. CTSs are more than 90, with provincial diffusion. Two teachers operators, specialized in new technologies for the inclusive teaching, are employed in each centre Totally 200 operators CTSs have their sites in the “leading school”

The NTD project: CTS - Centre for Territorial Support The core aim of CTSs lies in the realization of a territorial permanent net, able to retrieve and diffuse the best practices, i.e.knowledge and training courses, other than resources, i.e. hardware and software, for the inclusive teaching through the new technologies. The mission of CTSs is furthermore to concretely support schools with devices in order to buy and efficiently use these technologies.

The NTD project: CTS - Centre for Territorial Support In their first two years’ activity, the CTSs have realized 260 training courses, involving over than teachers operators. These data come from the INVALSI – the National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education System – that was charged of the survey about NTD

The NTD project: CTS - Centre for Territorial Support The Ministry of Education, by creating CTSs, inaugurated a process of development where these centres have had the possibility to expand their relations and commitment with schools in a profitable way throughout the territory. They have become enabled to build up a net of great value, based on the exchange and the confrontation of experiences among teachers and operators.

The NTD project: CTS - Centre for Territorial Support Such operators have rapidly become promoters of experimentations and researches either in the field of special teaching and in the ICT development. Many of them have also processed and made available didactic software and in such way, have developed and diffused the free software utilization. have been realized synergies with the Institute of Didactic Technologies of the National Research Centre – CNR – of Genoa, the regional auxiliary cases and other research centres.

The sixth action of the NTD project, funded with 1,8 million euros, has given a further contribution to such experimentation, so that schools have produced 26 didactic software that can be easily downloaded in the MIUR website

Best practices In Vicenza was created a special team on autism. 14 teachers and 1 social service operator. Help desk reception for the schools and families. When a particularly complex case requires specific competences and skills, two operators directly go to the school and support the colleague in his pedagogical and didactic action. Matching colleagues generates brilliant results, that turn out into concrete actions in the didactical practices.

recently, MIUR has activated an important and ambitious training plan in universities to raise the teachers' competence level. 35 masters on DSA to train over than 4000 teachers have been put up thanks to an agreement between the national permanent conference of the faculties deans of scienze della formazione. Training

The Ministry is preparing the study programs for further 40 masters devoted to specific disabilities (autism, mental delay, ADHD syndrome, sensorial disabilities, etc.), aimed at increasing the number of specialized teams, like the Vicenza model. In such masters some modules are always devoted to the ICTs and the CTS operators are involved in labs and teaching activities. The CTS operators keep on their teaching actions and are employed part time in the centres, in such maintaining their contact with the school and its context.

System actions The importance of the CTSs role lies not only in giving support to schools and teachers, but also in representing an interface among the central administration, the regional offices and the schools themselves.

Currently… We are working in order to introduce the ICF model of the WHO in the school and health care context. We wish to pass from a clinical approach to a bio-psycho-social. Being aware that ICF is a complex model that risks to become a bureaucratic instrument, we are also thinking about an Italian way for the inclusion and adjustment of ICFs to our reality, trying to match educational and clinical language.

Currently… Matching health and schools operators is realized once again in CTSs. In Latium and in Tuscany take place periodical meetings between medical doctors and teachers. In Veneto, there are 6 CTSs and 44 CTRH. It deals with “leading schools”, sited in every social-healthcare district. Weekly meetings are held among the health structures responsibles, teachers and social services referees. Such well structured net is able to support all schools

CTS portal The CTS portal is at an advanced step of processing. There it is possible to find all centres. An inside section is devoted to HANDITECNO Another one is dedicated to ESSEDIQUADRO, a portal cared by the Genoa ITD – in convention with the Ministry of Education, containing over 6000 didactic software

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