1. Item 7.5 (2012-ETS-16) – Statistics on Special Needs Education
Presentation of the outcomes of the project on statistics on Special Needs Education and recommendations for further work in the field.
Working Group - Education and Training Statistics, June 2012, Luxembourg

2. Policy context at EU level
Content
Policy context at EU level
The Eurostat SNE project: general presentation
Final recommendations from the enquiry
Data to be collected
Timeliness
Towards an SNE indicator

3. EU policy context
May 2007 Council conclusions on a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks:
The Council invites the Commission, with regard to those indicators which can largely be based on existing data and whose definition still needs further clarification, to submit to the Council, for further consideration, information on the definition of (...) special needs education.
May 2009 Council conclusions (2009/C 119/02) on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’)
Strategic objective 3: Promoting equity, social cohesion and active
Educational disadvantage should be addressed (...) by promoting inclusive education. (…) including, where appropriate, through second-chance education and the provision of more personalised learning.
The Eurostat project
challenge: identifying SNE population with a view of recommending an SNE indicator
Initially planned to be launched in 2009, eventually launched in 2011

4. The Eurostat SNE project
3 phases:
Assessment of existing statistical methodologies and data related to SNE. Assess priorities of EU Commission and EU Member states for SNE statistics.
Proposal for data collection on SNE to be integrated in the UOE data collection (i.e. make this sub-population visible in the existing data collection where it is already covered). Aim: standardised and annual SNE data collection
Suggestion and testing of relevant quantitative measurable indicators on the basis of the UOE data collection suggestions and the policy priorities indicated at EU level (this includes visits to 4 Member States + SNE enquiry launched in August 2011).

5. Final recommendations: data collection
Type of settings
Inclusive settings too problematic
Segregated schools & segregated classes: OK
SNE categories
From OECD DDD taxonomy (D1=Disability; D2=Difficulty; D3=Disadvantage),
D2 and D3 problematic
D1: OK
Gifted children collected by only 4 countries => not to be included
ISCED level breakdown
Difficulties in classifying the (special schools) programmes
=> ISCED 1 and 2 together, excluding ISCED 3
Summary
Rows: gender, SNE category (1: Disability; 2: Difficulty/Disadvantage)
Columns: type of settings (1: Special schools; 2: Special classes)

6. Final recommendations: towards an SNE indicator
Countries’ suggestions in the enquiry
Preference for analysing SNE sub-populations (i.e. by type of settings & SNE category) as a percentage of the whole population of students, instead of as a percentage of the whole SNE population
An SNE indicator: minimalist option
For data availability reasons (and therefore for international comparability purposes) :
“segregation indicator” instead of “inclusive indicator”, i.e.
Pupils with SNE in segregated settings / All students enrolled at ISCED 1-2

7. Final recommendations: general aspects
SNE definition and guidelines
Need for redefining the scope of SNE (additional resources-based definition)
Need for clear guidelines for some specific cases regarding SNE classification (e.g. dyslexia)
Timeliness
Initially planned to be part of the UOE 2014 data collection
BUT in the enquiry many countries expressed their concerns (ISCED 2011 implementation)

8. Questions adressed to the ETS Working Group
Postpone the decision of the future of this project to next year OR
Already decide NOT to go further
In any case, no new request on SNE data in the revised UOE Regulation