The ICF goes to school: Contributions to policy and practice in education

The school, as the universal setting for children in every country in the world, has needed a definitional and classification system to guide policy and practice in defining the match between child functioning and performance and characteristics of the learning environment. The ICF-CY provides a standard approach to define the characteristics and needs of children relative to the demands of the educational environment. The ICF-CY offers a framework and taxonomy to provide comprehensive documentation of the dimensions of learning and performance needs of students and the corresponding school environment to meet those needs through instruction and individualised support. Characteristics of attending, responding, learning, social interaction and the acquisition of skills included in the ICF-CY are relevant to the instruction of all students and have particular significance for practices in special education and school psychology. The purpose of this chapter is to describe application of the ICF-CY as a common language for administrators and practitioners in education and related services and provide recommendations for future use to support educational participation and inclusion for all children.