Defining children with special educational needs- evidence from

Defining children with special educational needs- evidence from international contexts Israel Nov 21, 2007.

• Concept of special educational needs (SEN) emerged from the categorical disability framework • A UK idea (R. Gulliford, 1970). • Taken on formally in the Warnock Report • (1978)

• SEN sprung from dissatisfaction that medical identification only partially related to educational provision • And tended to lead to special school placement. • However, medical identification remains important in many countries and is often a key to liberating additional resources.

• Few countries have no disability categories • The UK (Department of Education) having abandoned them was forced by the Audit commission to reintroduce them for accounting purposes.

• Furthermore, the concept of SEN has no consistent international usage. • The term covers in various countries: – Those with disabilities – Those with learning difficulties – Those with disadvantages – Gifted and talented students

• For example: Austria, Belgium Korea have only disability categories e. g. mental retardation, visual impairment. • Ireland Japan include as well disadvantaged students e. g. those needing instruction because of linguistic barriers or ethnic minority status

• Spain includes in addition gifted and talented students. • What all of these students have in common is that they have difficulty in accessing the curriculum as it is currently presented. This is reflected in the ISCED 1997 definition:

• Special needs education – Educational intervention and support designed to address special educational needs. The term “ special needs education ” has come into use as a replacement for the term “special education”. The older term was mainly understood to refer to the education of children with disabilities that takes place in special schools or institutions distinct from, and outside of, the institutions of the regular school and university system.

• In many countries today a large proportion of disabled children are in fact educated in institutions of the regular system. Moreover, the concept of “children with special educational needs” extends beyond those who may be included in handicapped categories to cover those who are failing in school for a wide variety of other reasons that are known to be likely to impede a child’s optimal progress.

• Whether or not this more broadly defined group of children are in need of additional support depends on the extent to which schools are able to adapt their curriculum, teaching and organisation and/or to provide additional human or material resources so as to stimulate efficient and effective learning for these pupils.

• This definition emphasise the role of the school and other environmental factors. • Can be thought of in a model of K. Wedell • (1980)

Environmental factors Strengths OK Weaknesses ? Child factors Weaknesses ? Not OK

• Important to understand that SEN is not the same concept as the earlier idea of disability. • E. G. students may have a SEN but not a disability, and • students may have a disability but not a SEN.

Decision line moved to the left

• The concept of SEN in ISCED and as developed by the OECD is important because it emphasises the importance of resources. • OECD definition: “those with special educational needs are defined by the additional public and/or private resources provided to support their education”

• Identification of SEN students is based on a number of different models e. g. – medical approaches – psycho-diagnostic – curriculum based assessment

• Focus on curriculum based assessment (CBA) because it is the most educationally consistent approach and identifies where children are on the curriculum and can easily link to where they should/could be. • But to do this requires the development of outcome measures that can be disaggregated.

• Data from the UK.

Percentage of 10 year olds attaining the expected standard of achievement in English by SEN and Gender in 2004.

Percentage of 15 year olds attaining five good subject grades by SEN and gender in 2004

Percentage of 10 year olds attaining the expected standard in English by Specific SEN and gender 2004

Percentage of 15 year olds attaining the expected level of achievement by Specific SEN and gender 2004

Attainment in English by 10 year old with and without SEN (% achieving various levels)

Attainment of 10 year olds eligible/not eligible for free school meals (% achieving expected standard in 2004)

Attainment of 15 year olds eligible/not eligible for free school meals

Attainment of 15 year olds eligible / not eligible for free school meals in 2004 by gender (% achieving 5+ GCSE grades A* - C)

• This approach raises some fundamental questions related to identification: – do we accept that all students can attain equally (as some equity arguments would claim) or do we accept some natural distribution of ability? – do we need to determine some minimal criteria of performance? So for those below this threshold additional resources would be available.

• The availability of such data opens the way to work on: – evaluating school effectiveness for those receiving additional resources – evaluating different placements. In a policy context this work is essential for determining the extent of additional resources available and their equitable distribution.

• But we are just at the beginning! • Thank you! • Peter. Evans@OECD. org