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The Identification, Placement, and Review Committee:

considers whether children meet the board criteria as exceptional pupils
identifies the educational needs of the student
recommends the type of placement for instruction (such as regular classroom, full time gifted classroom or other options)

A student can be referred to an IPRC on the request of a teacher or parent. (Make the request in writing; a simple template to use can be found below). The reasons you may want to request an IPRC are addressed in the FAQ section.

This committee is legislated by the Education Act under Reg. 181/98 to identify exceptional students, what there needs are, and how those needs can be met. For more in depth information please visit the following links.

- Ministry of Education - The Identification, Placement, and Review Committee

- Ministry of Education - Highlights of Regulation 181/98 (IPRC)

It is likely that you will be invited to attend a school committee meeting to discuss the evidence of intellectual giftedness before testing and/or before the formal IPRC; you should go prepared with your own observations and evidence. You also might like to read Re-Forming Gifted Education by Karen B. Rogers and/or Being Smart About Gifted Children by Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster.

The school or board should provide information to you about the operation of the IPRC in advance of the meeting; ask for the information if necessary.

Before the IPRC meets, materials and information are gathered to provide evidence related to the exceptionality; these may be anecdotal records, educational assessments, or reports. You should have access to these materials before the IPRC meets in order to look them over.

Be aware that you have the right to appeal the decision of the IPRC with respect to:

Identification (For example, they say that your child is not gifted and you have reason to believe otherwise. Often these issues will be around interpreting test results.)
Placement (For example, whether the child will go into a regular classroom or into a special class, part- or full-time; this decision should be based on what setting would work best for your child, rather than any limitations imposed by the board's Special Education Plan).

The IPRC will render a written decision that will be provided to you; if you agree, sign and return it; if you do not agree, DO NOT SIGN IT, but respond with a request for another discussion.

(For more information about the complaint process, you can read this section of the ministry’s website.)

For more details on the IPRC process go to page 2.

For a full discussion of the rules and regulations related to the IPRC, see Special Education: A Guide for Educators, Part D.

Looking for information about IEP's? Click here

Template for Letter Requesting an IPRC

(Be sure to keep a copy of all letters sent to the school as well as notes taken at meetings including the IPRC)

[your address and date]
[name of principal and school address]
[date]

Dear [name of principal]:

We believe that our child [name of child] is gifted and would like for [him/her] to be considered by an Identification, Placement, and Review Committee. We understand that psychological testing may be required to better define [his/her] intellectual abilities.

[He/She] has been tested by [name of psychologist] and we will make the test results available.

We would like to consider placement in [state desired placement i.e. a congregated gifted class.]

Sincerely yours,

[your signature]

More details about the IPRC process can be found on page 2.

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