Inclusive education is not a program. It is a promise.
For school leaders and educators, that promise shows up in a thousand daily decisions: how to support a student who is overwhelmed, how to build a plan that actually gets used, how to keep a classroom safe while protecting dignity, and how to ensure every learner can participate meaningfully. For families, it shows up as a hope that their child will belong, learn, and be understood. For students, it shows up as a simple expectation: “I get to be here, and I get to succeed.”
In New Brunswick, that promise is anchored in Policy 322, Inclusive Education. The 2021 report
Moving Forward: From Policy to Practice: Implementing and Supporting Policy 322, Inclusive Education
(submitted by Kimberly Korotkov, PhD) captures a key reality: the province is committed to inclusive education, but commitment alone does not close the gap between policy and lived experience.At TinyEYE, we provide online therapy services to schools. We work alongside educators and Education Support Services Teams (ESSTs) who are doing their best in complex environments. This blog shares the most practical insights from the Moving Forward report—what the system has strengthened, where barriers remain, and what “moving forward” can look like when schools align people, processes, and supports.
What the review actually examined (and why that matters)
A major clarification in the report is that the province was not reviewing inclusive education as an idea. The review focused on how Policy 322 has been implemented, interpreted, and applied since its release in 2013.
The process was extensive and multi-voiced:
Over 500 individuals participated in virtual consultations (educators, support staff, students, families, community partners, stakeholders, and rightsholders).
3033 school-based staff completed surveys.
Data sources included PLP trends, student surveys, district metrics (e.g., suspensions, variation of learning environments), and more.
This matters because inclusive education succeeds when the people closest to students are heard—and when the system is willing to adjust based on evidence, not assumptions.
Progress worth celebrating: what’s moving in the right direction
The report highlights real gains since Policy 322 was introduced. Across districts and schools, stakeholders described improvements in both culture and structures.
Greater acceptance and belonging: Many districts and schools reported increased acceptance of diverse learners, including progress in disability inclusion and in sexual orientation and gender identity supports.
More consistent teaming through ESSTs: Education Support Services Teams were widely viewed as a positive development, especially when roles are clear and collaboration is strong.
Better PLP structures and tools: The shift toward more robust Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs)—including IBSPs (behaviour support plans), partial day plans, and newcomer support and transition plans—shows a system trying to match supports to needs.
Growing use of UDL, differentiation, and formative assessment: Educators value these approaches and see them as aligned with “all means all,” even if time and training remain challenges.
Transition planning and pathways: Families and schools cited positive examples like the Essential Skills Achievement Pathway (ESAP) and community partnerships that connect learning to life after graduation.
These wins are not small. They represent years of effort—and they provide a foundation to build on.
The persistent gap: educators believe in the “why,” but struggle with the “how”
One of the strongest themes from school-based staff was this: they support inclusive education in principle, but the day-to-day reality can feel exhausting, under-resourced, and at times unsafe.
When staff were asked to describe an inclusive school, the words were both inspiring and sobering—welcoming, caring, flexible, supportive, but also stressful, challenging, underfunded, understaffed, and exhausting.
This tension is the heart of “policy to practice.” A rights-based policy can still fail students if the system does not provide:
consistent interpretation of expectations
timely access to qualified professionals
evidence-based interventions at the right intensity
tools and time to implement plans with fidelity
Communication is not a nice-to-have; it’s an implementation strategy
The report is direct: policy dissemination and shared understanding were not consistent enough.
One data point should stop any system in its tracks: 43.9% of survey respondents had not received professional learning on Policy 322 since its release. The roles most impacted included classroom teachers, educational assistants, behaviour intervention mentors, and school intervention workers.
When communication is inconsistent, myths fill the gap. The report identifies recurring misunderstandings, including confusion about whether students can ever learn outside the common learning environment, and uncertainty about how Policy 322 interacts with other policies like Policy 703 (Positive Learning and Working Environment).
Practical takeaway for school teams: if staff cannot clearly explain what the policy expects, they cannot implement it consistently—and students experience that inconsistency as inequity.
Challenging behaviour, mental health, and trauma: the pressure point schools feel most
Across districts, schools, families, and partners, one barrier surfaced repeatedly: complex and sometimes violent behaviour, often connected to mental health and trauma.
Educators described feeling empathetic but unequipped—worried for the student in crisis, for peers, and for their own safety. Districts noted that adding “another body” is not always the solution; what schools often need is trained, qualified intervention support and a coherent continuum of services.
The report also points to system constraints:
Waitlists and shortages: Vacant psychologist positions and long assessment wait times (2–3 years in some cases) discourage referrals and push families toward private assessments.
Service gaps across grades: Speech-language services are difficult to sustain beyond early grades due to volume and prioritization.
Limited capacity for tiered supports: Child and Youth teams focus on targeted/intensive needs, leaving schools with fewer options for proactive, school-wide or small-group supports.
This is where online therapy services can be a practical part of the solution. Telepractice doesn’t replace school teams—it strengthens them by expanding access to specialized clinicians (such as speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists, where applicable) and enabling consistent service delivery across geography and staffing shortages.
Equity means “supports match needs,” not “everyone gets the same thing”
The report reinforces a core principle: inclusive education is equitable when barriers are reduced through reasonable accommodations and responsive supports.
Equity concerns raised in the report include:
Newcomer support: Districts welcomed newcomer families while also naming gaps in language-learning capacity and culturally informed mental health supports, particularly for war-affected families.
Racism and discrimination: Community groups reported ongoing discrimination and called for more direct action and accountability.
Deaf and hard of hearing learners: Partners raised complex concerns about language access, deaf culture, and the need for professional learning.
Advanced learners: Some students reported limited access to enrichment or higher-level course opportunities, especially in middle school.
Equity is also operational: clear processes, consistent access, and staff training that reaches classroom teachers—not only specialized roles.
What “moving forward” can look like in real schools
The report offers 69 recommendations across 11 themes. For busy school teams, here are the most actionable “north stars” that connect directly to daily practice:
Make interpretation consistent: Build shared understanding of key areas like variation of the common learning environment and behaviour crisis response.
Invest in capacity, not just compliance: Professional learning must reach classroom teachers, educational assistants, and early-career staff—not only specialists.
Strengthen the continuum of supports: RTI works when tiered interventions are available, measurable, and timely.
Track what matters: Consistent data standards (e.g., incident reporting, IBSP quality) enable improvement rather than guesswork.
Protect staff wellness as a student success strategy: Healthy schools require healthy adults; staff wellness should be part of school improvement planning.
Partner with community and service providers: Schools do not have to carry every need alone; strong partnerships expand support without fragmenting responsibility.
For TinyEYE and similar providers, the opportunity is clear: align therapy services with school goals, integrate with ESST planning, support PLP implementation, and reduce access barriers—especially where recruitment and waitlists limit in-person capacity.
Inclusion is built in the everyday
The most hopeful message in Moving Forward is that New Brunswick’s inclusive education system has not stood still. It has evolved. It has learned. It has made progress. And it has enough honest feedback to keep improving—if the system treats implementation as an ongoing practice, not a one-time rollout.
Inclusive education becomes real when policy is translated into shared language, practical tools, timely supports, and measurable outcomes. That is how schools become safe, welcoming, affirming environments where every student is valued—and where educators feel supported to do the work they came to do.
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