School careers of children with special educational needs in The Netherlands

School careers of children with special educational needs in The

Netherlands

ECER 2013

Guuske Ledoux , University of AmsterdamEd Smeets, Radboud University of Nijmegen

The Netherlands

Background

• In the Netherlands: change in national policy concerning SEN children

• Decisions about allocation of budget will be transferred to regional level (local school boards)

• Expectations: more inclusive education, less referral to special education, improved school careers of SEN children

Evaluation program

• Different policy goals, different levels of evaluation

• Essential: basic information on the present state of school careers and level of achievement of SEN children, both in mainstream and in special education

• Intended: repeated measurements afterwards

Research Questions

• What is the development of the school careers of SEN-children in primary education, as compared to non-SEN-children?

• Does the presence of SEN-children in mainstream classes affect the educational performance of non-SEN-children in these classes?

Methods

Large cohort study in primary schools (COOL5-18)• Grades 2, 5 and 8• 3 Year interval• ‘Pupil Profile’: Questionnaire, completed by teacher

for every pupil in class• ‘SEN Profile’: Questionnaire, completed by teacher for

every pupil in class considered to have SEN• Tests and pupil questionnaires. Data linked with national data about school careers

Definition of SEN

A pupil with SEN in mainstream education is a pupil …• for whom there is an individual education plan; and/or• for whom a specific approach or extra help is needed; and/or• who has a specific problem or learning difficulty.Judgment by the teacher

Overview careers, %

Grade 2-5

Grade 5-8

No SEN SEN No SEN SEN

standard career 91.7 60.4 98.2 90.3

in mainstream school with grade repetition

7.7 27.9 1.5 6.1

referred to special education ‘light’

0.5 8.3 0.2 2.1

referred to special education ‘severe’ 0.1 3.3 0.1 1.5

total N 3944 1331 3473 1428

SEN categorisation

(Based on frequencies):a)Learning problemsb)Externalising or internalising problem

behaviourc)Fysical, mental or psychiatric disorders;

also language disordersd)Combination of (b) and (c)

School careers x SEN category, %

grade 2-5learning problem

behavioral problem

other

combination

behavioral-other

standard career 81.6 68.2 62.6 50.7

in mainstream school with grade repetition

15.0 26.8 31.8 30.9

referred to special education ‘light’

3.4 3.0 3.7 13.7

referred to special education ‘severe’ 0.0 2.0 1.9 4.6

total N 147 503 107 950

Other SEN indicators, %

grade 2-5SEN with individual

budget

SEN delayed

curriculum

SEN according to

teacher

standard career 65.4 48.3 60.4

in mainstream school with grade repetition 3.8 24.2 27.9

referred to special education ‘light’ 7.7 18.8 8.3

referred to special education ‘severe’ 23.1 8.7 3.3

Total N 52 149 1331

Conclusions 1

• Within mainstream schools the school careers of SEN-pupils are less advantageous as compared to the school careers of non-SEN-pupils

• SEN-pupils who have been early identified (at the age of five) also have less advantageous careers as compared to SEN-pupils who have been identified at a later stage (age of eight)

• SEN-pupils with more severe and complex problems also perform less well. The worst performance has been found for pupils who are entitled to extra funding or who are placed in a delayed curriculum program.

Class composition

• Movement to more inclusive education > implicates more SEN pupils in mainstream schools

• Will this affect the achievements and wellbeing of non-SEN pupils?

Methods

• Multi level analyses grades 5 and 8

• Dependent variables: test scores and pupil questionnaires > self-efficacy, wellbeing in school and motivation for school work

• Independent variables: class composition > % SEN pupils and mean score indicating the ‘weight’ of SEN pupils

• Controlling for: gender, socio-economic status

Results for test scores

• In grade 5 and 8 small negative effects of the mean ‘weight’ of SEN pupils on the achievement of non-SEN pupils

• In grade 5 no effect of % SEN pupils in the classroom on of achievement non-SEN pupils

• In grade 8 small positive effect of % SEN pupils in the classroom on achievement of non-SEN pupils

Results on wellbeing etc

• No significant effects in grade 5• In grade 8 small negative effect of the

mean ‘weight’ of SEN pupils on the wellbeing of non-SEN pupils

Conclusions 2

• No influence of proportion of SEN-pupils on achievement or wellbeing of their non-SEN classmates; this is consistent with international literature

• Negative, but very small influence of the total ‘weight’ of SEN pupils on achievement and wellbeing of their non-SEN classmates

• No arguments against more inclusive education

Thank you for your attention

foto: Edgar Tossijngledoux@kohnstamm.uva.nl