Background

The Development of Pupils with and Pupils without Special Educational Needs

in Primary Schools in The Netherlands

Ed Smeets Guuske LedouxITS Kohnstamm InstituutRadboud University University of AmsterdamNijmegen, The Netherlands Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ECER 2013

Background

The percentage of pupils in special schools in The Netherlands is among the highest in Europe: between 4 and 5% of pupils aged 4-12.

In addition, 1% of pupils in mainstream schools receive additional SEN budget, whereas teachers consider 26% of their pupils to have special educational needs (Smeets et al., 2007).

This outcome confirms the percentage of 26 found earlier in The United Kingdom (Croll & Moses, 2003).

Research questions

1) What proportion of pupils in mainstream primary school in The Netherlands have SEN according to their teachers and what kind of problems do they have in opinion of their teachers?

2) What is the stability of the ‘SEN label’ over a period of 3 years?3) How do literacy and numeracy attainment levels of pupils with

and pupils without SEN develop over time?4) How do pupils with and pupils without SEN develop according

to their teachers with respect to social-emotional aspects?

Method

• 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, completed by every pupil in class: mathematics,

technical reading, vocabulary, comprehensive reading

Definition of SEN

A pupil with SEN 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.

Research Question 1: Pupils with SEN and the nature of

their problems (according to their teachers)

Pupils with SEN (according to teacher)

COOL1 COOL2

Grade 2 (5 years of age) 26% 20%



Total 26% 23%

Total number of pupils: 15624 in COOL1; 19615 in COOL2

Types SEN pupils and nature of problemsitems α

Externalising problem behaviour 7 ,82

Internalising problem behaviour 7 ,76

Problematic attitude to work 3 ,76

Communication problems 5 ,84

Intellectual impairment / delayed cognitive development 3 ,49

Being behind in literacy and/or numeracy 3 ,71

Physical disability 4 --

Dyslexia 1 --

Autism Spectrum Disorder 1 --

Gifted 1 --

Severity of the problems (COOL2)Some extent

Fair extent

Serious extent

Total

Behind in literacy and/or numeracy 7,3% 6,4% 2,9% 16,6%

Problematic attitude to work 6,2% 5,8% 2,5% 14,5%

Internalisering problem behaviour 7,1% 4,3% 1,7% 13,1%

Communication problems 5,6% 4,2% 1,6% 11,4%

Intellectual impairment / delayed cognitive development

4,7% 3,3% 1,1% 9,1%

Externalising problem behaviour 3,4% 3,1% 1,9% 8,4%

Dyslexia 1,3% 1,7% 1,2% 4,2%

Physical disability 1,7% 0,6% 0,4% 2,7%

Autism Spectrum Disorder 0,8% 0,6% 0,4% 1,8%

Gifted 0,6% 0,4% 0,2% 1,2%

Research Question 2:Stability of the ‘SEN label’

SEN or no SEN (3 years later)

Stability of the ‘SEN label‘ over 3 year period

According to the teachers at COOL1 and COOl2:• 65% no SEN on both occasions; • 12% SEN on both occasions;• 12% SEN at COOL1 and no SEN at COOL2;• 11% no SEN at COOL1 and SEN at COOL2.

Changes:• 50% of SEN pupils has no SEN 3 years later (according to the teacher);• 23% changed ‘label’.

Research Question 3: Development of cognitive attainment levels of pupils

with and pupils without SEN

Mathematics

COOL1: grade 5 COOL2: grade 80

20

40

60

80

100

120

75.7

113.2

70.3

108.4

67.9

101.8

59.3

98.5

no SENSEN COOL1SEN COOL2SEN COOL1+2

Comprehensive reading


10

20

30

40

50

60

28.5

56.6

23.3

50.3

21.4

43.5

18.5

41.4


Learning gains

Mathem-atics

Comprehen-sive reading

Reading ability

Vocabulary

No SEN 37,5 28,2 36,5 27,3

SEN at COOL1, no SEN at COOL2

38,1 27,0 39,8 27,0

No SEN at COOL1, SEN at COOL2

33,9 22,1 40,5 25,2

SEN at COOL1 and COOl2

39,2 22,8 42,6 24,1

Research Question 4:Social-emotional development of

pupils with and pupils without SEN (according to their teacher)

Behaviour


2

3

4

5

3.76 3.813.44 3.533.63 3.63

3.323.39


Attitude to work


2

3

4

5

3.67 3.633.17 3.283.28

3.043.012.80


Conflicts with teacher


2

3

4

5

1.58 1.56

1.94 1.901.71 1.84

2.09 2.07


Conclusions

Conclusions

• According to teachers, about 25% of pupils in mainstream primary school have special educational needs.

• Most common are being behind in literacy / numeracy, a problematic attitude to work and internalising problem behaviour.

• The stability of the ‘SEN label’ is questionable: after 3 years 23% of all pupils had changed ‘label’; 50% of SEN pupils at T1 was not considered to have SEN at T2.

Conclusions• Attainment of the ‘no SEN’ group on average was highest, of the

‘stable SEN group’ lowest.• Pupils considered to have no SEN at T1 and SEN at T2 were on

average already lagging behind at T1. • The ‘stable SEN group’ showed higher learning gains from grade

5 to 8 as compared to the ‘no SEN’ group at mathematics and reading ability.

• SEN pupils on average were rated less positively on underachievement, behaviour, attitude to work, and popularity with classmates, were considered more dependent upon the teacher and had more conflicts with the teacher.

• The attitude towards work, as rated by the teacher, became more problematic with the ‘stable SEN group’ from T1 to T2.

The Development of Pupils with and Pupils without Special Educational Needs

in Primary Schools in The Netherlands

Ed Smeets Guuske LedouxITS Kohnstamm InstituutRadboud University University of AmsterdamNijmegen, The Netherlands Amsterdam, The Netherlands

[email protected] [email protected]

ECER 2013

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Background