Afroditi Kalambouka

The Impact of Placing Pupils with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools on the Achievement of Their Peers.

Background Over the past 20 years or so policy and practice on the education of children with special educational needs (SEN) has been aimed at placing increasing numbers of children in a mainstream school environment. Although this policy has been supported in principle by many teachers, parents and local authority officers, there has been much less agreement about whether this principle can be realized in practice, and even if it can, about what the impacts might be on the achievements of pupils with SEN in mainstream schools and, in particular, on their peers. Purpose This paper discusses the key findings from a systematic review of the literature carried out by the Inclusion Review Group, on behalf of the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information (EPPI)-Centre, the purpose of which was to review research evidence on whether the placement of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) within mainstream schools has an impact on academic and social outcomes for pupils without SEN. Design and methods The methodology followed the procedures adopted by the EPPI-Centre. Having agreed on the inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies that could be included in the review, an initial pool of 7137 papers were identified through electronic databases. After having screened all their titles and/or abstracts and having marked out possible papers to be included in the review, 119 paper copies were obtained—all of which were read by one or more of the authors of this paper. This led to a further reduction to 26 studies that were subjected to the EPPI data extraction process and synthesis. Conclusions Overall, the findings suggest that there are no adverse effects on pupils without SEN of including pupils with special needs in mainstream schools, with 81% of the outcomes reporting positive or neutral effects. Despite concerns about the quality of some of the studies that were reviewed and the fact that the great majority were carried out in the USA, these findings should bring some comfort to headteachers, parents and local authority officers around the world at a time when concerns have been raised about the problems that schools face in responding to the twin agenda of becoming more inclusive and, at the same time, raising the achievements of all their pupils.

Measures of Social and Emotional Skills for Children and Young People A Systematic Review

This study presents the findings of a systematic review of measures of social and emotional skills for children and young people. The growing attention to this area in recent years has resulted in the development of a large number of measures to aid in the assessment of children and young people. These measures vary on a number of variables relating to implementation characteristics and psychometric properties. The methodology of the review followed the general principles of systematic reviewing, such as systematic search of databases, the adoption of predetermined set of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a multistage filtering process. The review process resulted in the retention of 12 measures, which are presented and discussed in relation to key issues in this area, including difficulties with the underlying theory and frameworks for social and emotional skills, inconsistent terminology, the scope and distinctiveness of available measures, and more practical issues such as the type of respondent, location, and purpose of measurement.

Teachers' perceptions of school psychologists in different countries

Teachers are probably the main group of professionals with whom school psychologists1 have most contact. Teachers are usually involved in making referrals of individual children, they may be expected to act on the advice of the school psychologist and they also work with school psychologists in consultation-based activities. It is therefore important to ascertain their views about the work of school psychologists in order for services to move forward in an evidenced informed manner. This article discusses the findings of a survey of teachers’ views of school psychologists in eight countries. A total of 1105 teachers completed a questionnaire that yielded quantitative and qualitative data. Findings suggest that there is considerable variation between countries in the amount of time school psychologists spend in schools and that this is related, though perhaps not as strongly as might be predicted, to the extent to which teachers value their services. Overall, teachers appreciate the quality of the service they receive from school psychologists although they would like to see more of them. In addition, they would like school psychologists to spend more time on activities that they currently undertake less frequently. There were also concerns in the UK and the USA about the large amount of time school psychologists spend on testing and assessments for special education. There are key implications from these findings for school psychology services in different countries as they strive to improve their services and meet the needs and expectations of teachers.

A review of key issues in the measurement of children?s social and emotional skills

Recent policy developments (such as the Children’s Plan) and the introduction of a new national strategy (the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning programme) have re‐emphasised the importance of social and emotional skills in educational contexts. As such, educational psychologists are increasingly likely to be involved in the measurement of social and emotional skills, either as part of their case‐work or through research. They may also be asked to provide advice to schools looking to evaluate certain aspects of their practice in this area. The aim of this paper is to provide a discussion of key issues in the measurement of social and emotional skills in children and adolescents. These include: difficulties with the underlying theory and frameworks for social and emotional skills, inconsistent terminology, the scope and distinctiveness of available measures, psychometric properties, and more practical issues such as the type of respondent, location and purpose of measurement. The paper concludes with a call for more research and the further development of appropriate measures.

Education and poverty: mapping the terrain and making the links to educational policy

Although there is widespread agreement that poverty and poor educational outcomes are related, there are different explanations about why that should be the case. The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual synthesis of some of the research literature on poverty and education. From our readings the debates cohere, to a greater or lesser extent, around three different foci: ones that focus on the individual and that we have termed the ‘micro‐level’; some that focus on ‘immediate social contexts’ that might be located in families, communities, schools and peer groups and that we have termed the ‘meso‐level’; and others again that focus on social structures and/or are linked to notions of power and inequality and that we have termed the ‘macro‐level’. In addition, the various literatures highlight a fundamental difference in the way they understood the role of education in producing what we might call the ‘good society’ – and hence what counts as ‘good education’. These two broad positions we have termed as functionalist and socially critical perspectives and together with the micro‐, meso‐ and macro‐foci provide a mapping framework by which we organise the literature and through which we examine a number of educational policy interventions in England that have focused on educational outcomes and disadvantage/poverty. The analysis suggests that perhaps too much policy intervention focuses on the more accessible and amenable meso‐level (and to lesser extent the micro‐level) with too little emphasis on the macro‐level. At the same time many interventions appear disjointed, often lack coherence and seem to eschew issues of power. Different ways of responding to these apparent deficiencies are explored through current developments and potential in full service extended schools and through notions of democratic pedagogy and governance possibilities suggestive of the ‘new localism’ agenda.

Implementing primary Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) small group interventions: recommendations for practitioners

This article presents an extended vignette describing a good practice model for implementing SEAL small group work at ‘Mellington Primary’, a fictional school. The vignette/model was developed from in-depth case studies at five primary schools in the north-west of England during a national evaluation of primary SEAL by the authors. The case studies comprised interviews and/or focus groups with pupils, staff and parents, observations of small group sessions and other settings, and document analysis. Key principles of effective small group work implementation presented in the model include allocation of sufficient time and space, a triangulated referral procedure for children, providing additional support outside of the intervention setting and making explicit links with whole-school SEAL work. Recommendations are made for the future development of SEAL small group work, including increasing the length and intensity of interventions and engaging in additional work with parents.

Going for Goals: An Evaluation of a Short, Social-Emotional Intervention for Primary School Children.

We report on an effectiveness trial of a short, social—emotional intervention called ‘Going for Goals’, developed as part of the primary social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) programme in England. Our aim was to investigate the impact of Going for Goals on childrens’ social and emotional skills, behaviour and emotional well-being. The sample comprised 182 children (aged 6—11) attending 22 primary schools across England. Data were collected using child self-report, and parent- and teacher-informant report questionnaires in a pre-test—post-test control group design at the beginning of the intervention, at the end of the intervention, and at eight-week follow-up. One hundred and two children took part in the intervention, and 80 acted as a comparison group. Those who took part in the intervention attended weekly 45 minute small group sessions for eight weeks. Child self-report and teacher informant report data indicated that the intervention had a positive impact on the social and emotional skills of children selected for extra support. Teacher informant report data also indicated that the intervention was successful in reducing the behavioural and emotional difficulties of these children. Analysis of follow-up data suggested that the positive impacts had been sustained following the end of the intervention. Parental informant report data yielded null results. Our findings suggest that Going for Goals is successful in promoting social and emotional skills and reducing behavioural and emotional difficulties of children in need of extra support. However, future iterations may need to consider activities beyond the school setting in order to produce changes that are salient to parents.

New Beginnings: evaluation of a short social–emotional intervention for primary‐aged children

We report on an effectiveness trial of ‘New Beginnings’, a short social–emotional intervention for primary‐aged children. The sample comprised 253 children (aged 6–11) attending 37 primary schools across England. Data on social and emotional competence and mental health difficulties were collected using child self‐report, and parent‐ and teacher‐informant report questionnaires in a pre‐test–post‐test control group design. One hundred and fifty‐nine children took part in the intervention, and 94 children acted as a comparison group. Children in the intervention group attended weekly 45‐minute small group sessions for seven weeks. Child self‐report data indicated that the intervention was successful in promoting social and emotional competence, and that improvements were sustained at seven‐week follow‐up. However, this finding was not replicated in either the teacher or parental data. We conclude that future iterations of the intervention may need to be more intensive and lengthy in order to produce changes in behaviour that are salient to teachers and parents.

Implementation of primary Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning small group work: a qualitative study

The aim of this study was to build an implementation process model for social–emotional interventions. Case studies were conducted at five primary schools in England nominated as ‘lead practise’ by their local authorities. Data collection comprised interviews with school staff, children and parents, observations of intervention sessions and other settings, and document analysis. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. In brief, the process model of Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning small group work indicates that successful implementation is dependent upon a range of factors, ranging from the skills and experience of the group facilitator to the availability of an appropriate physical space to conduct the sessions. Key aspects of the delivery of small group interventions included setting achievable targets for children, providing constant reinforcement of desirable behaviour, and providing opportunities for pupils to verbalise their emotional experiences. We discuss the implications of the model and make recommendations for future development in this area.

The influence of schooling on the aspirations of young people with special educational needs

The authors investigate the effect of schooling on the aspirations of young people designated as having mild learning difficulties (MLD) or emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in the first large-scale study of its kind in England. Data were collected from parents and their 15/16 year-old children in the final year of their compulsory schooling in schools. The results indicate on average a positive effect of mainstream schooling on the aspirations of these pupils with the caveat that these benefits are more likely to accrue to pupils whose parents are in higher status occupations. In their conclusions the authors discuss the implications of these results for education policy in the context of local management of schools.