Collaboration between Admissions Offices and Learning Support Departments in Inclusive Schools: The Experience of the International School of Brussels
It might seem on the surface that the work of admissions officers in an inclusive international school would be easier than in more exclusive schools. After all, since students with a wider range of learning styles are admitted in inclusive schools, one does not have to deny as many applications! However, nothing can be further from the truth. Simply put, in a more exclusive school, admissions officers can more easily play the role of 'gatekeeper' and turn away applicants who would need support without even having to consider their applications, with the catch all response 'We do not have the resources to meet their needs. In inclusive schools, however, potential learning support applications have to be looked at very closely so that it can be determined whether the applicant's needs can really be met. If they can, the program that the student would follow and any conditions attached to it have to be explained. And if the student's needs cannot be met, you have to be able to explain in detail why! Clearly, the challenge is greater in inclusive schools, where Admissions teams learn to manage the tensions of moral purpose and the practical realities of numbers, fiscal responsibility and quality of instruction. The Admissions Office needs access to the expertise of Learning Support specialists as part of this walk on the tightrope.In this paper, we will share the collaborative experience of the Admissions Office and Student Services Departmenti at the International School of Brussels. We will use the framework of analysis created at the Leading The Way: Learning Support through the Lens of Admissions workshop held at Hong Kong Academy on December 3 and 4, 2016, and sponsored by the Next Frontier: Inclusion. We will share lessons learned at ISB in each of the six thematic areas established at the workshop: 1) School Mission and Shared Values; 2) Capacity and Skills; 3) Admissions Processes; 4) Communities and Partnerships; 5) Communication and Language; and 6) Data driven Decisions.1. School Mission and Shared Values Know Yourself!ISB's mission 'Everyone Included, Everyone Challenged and Everyone Successful' is powerful at the school in that it is known and supported by virtually the whole school community. Leaders, teachers, parents, students and alumni are proud of being associated with a school in which a wide range of students' needs are met. However, what exactly is an inclusive school? ISB's definition of inclusion has been adopted by NFI and reads: 'Inclusive schools successfully serve a managed number of students representing the full range of learning differences: mild, moderate, intensive needs and those of the exceptionally able.'1 Of course a primary assumption is that the school has a common understanding of the degree of optimal support students will require, has a system for collecting and tracking this data, and has resources and structures to ensure that they are able to serve the students they admit.In a practical sense, what does inclusion look like at ISB? ISB is a diverse school with students from about seventy different countries with multiple national, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and perspectives. Some well represented countries are: the United States (20% Belgium (15% France (7% Holland, the UK (about 6% each) Italy, Israel, and Japan (about 4% each) In addition, the school has established a guideline quota of 15% for students with diagnosed learning needs, as this broadly reflects the degree of needs in a typical population. Although students with identified learning needs are considered in the three broad categories: (mild, moderate and intensive) we know well that students don't always fit so neatly into these categories and in reality it is more of a continuum than a sorting mechanism. At ISB the representation is as follows: mild 10% moderate 3 4% and intensive (students with cognitive or intellectual disabilities) 1 2% of the student body respectively.