School careers of children with special educational needs in The Netherlands ECER 2013 Guuske Ledoux, University of Amsterdam Ed 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 (COOL 5-18 ) 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 SENSENNo SENSEN standard career in mainstream school with grade repetition referred to special education ‘light’ referred to special education ‘severe’ total N

SEN categorisation (Based on frequencies): a)Learning problems b)Externalising or internalising problem behaviour c)Fysical, mental or psychiatric disorders; also language disorders d)Combination of (b) and (c)

School careers x SEN category, % grade 2-5 learning problem behavioral problem other combination behavioral- other standard career in mainstream school with grade repetition referred to special education ‘light’ referred to special education ‘severe’ total N

Other SEN indicators, % grade 2-5 SEN with individual budget SEN delayed curriculum SEN according to teacher standard career in mainstream school with grade repetition referred to special education ‘light’ referred to special education ‘severe’ Total N

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 Tossijn