Introducing the Children Act

Many readers may not yet be aware of the provisions of the Children Act 1989. It comes into effect next year and offers both challenges and opportunities for teachers and other professionals as well as for children with special educational needs and their families. Philippa Russell, principal officer, Voluntary Council for Handicapped Children, summarises some of the main sections of the Act and those most relevant to education.     

The rights of children and young people under special educational needs legislation in England: an inclusive agenda?

ABSTRACT

In this article we consider the rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in England, introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014, within the context of the wider reforms made by the Act. Drawing primarily on key informant interviews conducted as part of an ESRC project on Autonomy, Rights and Children with Special Needs: A New Paradigm? (ES/P002641/1), and making reference to the international framework of children’s and disabled persons’ rights, we present an analysis of the (mostly professional) viewpoints gathered and what they tell us about the progress towards the realisation of children and young people’s autonomy and agency in this field.     

Book Reviews

Special Children: meeting the challenge in the primary school.
Assessment in Speech and Language Therapy
The Visually Impaired: Curricular Access and Entitlement in Further Education.
Empowering Parents and Teachers: Working for Children.
The Children Act and Schools: A Guuide to Good Practice
Pear Tree Tomorrow A detailed video cassette about the dance-movement-therapy work carried out by pupils at Meldreth Manor School under the direction of Hilary Barratt.     

美国个别化教育计划的立法演进与发展

1975年,美国颁布的<所有残疾儿童教育法>首次提出要为每位接受特殊教育的特殊儿童制订个别化教育计划(简称IEP).随后,该法案经过了几次修订.每次法案修订时都根据当时的问题或需要调整IEP的要求,然而,这些要求的实现要受到多种因素的影响.本文回顾了30多年来美国IEP相关立法的演变进程,分析了IEP随之发生的变化以及对提供有效的特殊教育及相关服务的影响.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Interactive Approaches to the Education of Children with Severe Learning Difficulties Beryl Smith (ed.)
The Power to Act Adrian Ward
In Special Need Graham Atherton
Special Education in Change Mel Ainscow (ed.)
My Language, Our Language Bernadette Walsh
Children with Hearing Difficulties A. Webster, D. Wood
The Education of People with Profound and Multiple Handicaps, Resource Materials for Staff Training Judy Sebba
Special Educational Needs: Policy and Practice Roy Evans (ed.)
Bilingualism and Learning Disabilities A.C. Willig, H.S. Greenberg (eds.)
Pre-school Provision for Children with Special Needs Brenda Robson     

Inside a hall of mirrors: residential care and the shifting constructions of childhood in mid‐twentieth‐century Britain

Drawing on imagery from promotional literature produced between 1930 and 1960 by the National Children’s Home, a British child welfare charity, this article focuses upon constructions of childhood and child development in the context of residential care for children. It suggests that photographs and their related captions are rich sources through which to explore the significance of time and space for constructions of childhood and to consider the ways in which childhood constitutes and is constituted by ideas of home and family. The article examines the significance of key pieces of legislation, including the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act and the 1948 Children Act, for the representation of children in residential care and identifies the ways in which portrayals of childcare were shaped by wider social and political change. In turn, continuities in concerns about the physical health, education and employability of children in care are traced together with changes in what were understood to be the “natural” spaces and places of childhood. As a whole, the article examines the excess of meanings that were embedded in the portrayal of children without home or family and, through its readings of the imagery, foregrounds the silences, contradictions and paradoxes in the narratives of residential childcare through this 30‐year period.     

Absent Without Leave: state responses to school non‐attendance

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the changing legal context of school attendance, in relation to the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Children Act 1989. The new Children Act seeks to alter legal and welfare approaches to school non‐attendance, and to ‘decriminalise’ truancy by replacing care orders with education supervision orders. The tensions that exist both within new and existing legislation, and between legislation and its implementation by education and welfare agencies are explored. While the Education Reform Act 1988 has no provisions relating specifically to school attendance, measures such as open enrolment and local management of schools impact indirectly on school non‐attendance. The Act has also contributed to the development of local and national initiatives to reduce truancy levels. Finally, the intended and unintended consequences the enforcement of regular school attendance has on the lives of truants is examined. The development of a deviant career is traced, from the initial act of not attending school, through the regulatory and labelling processes of various agencies, to the final state of being out of school and in care.     

The transition to adulthood for autistic young people with additional learning needs: the views and experiences of education professionals in special schools

Education professionals (n = 41) in special schools were interviewed about supporting their autistic pupils transitioning to adulthood following the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014. Our participants explained how they lacked the time to fully implement knowledge gained from training, leading to growing reliance on experiential expertise. While our participants reported employing a variety of methods to elicit the voices of pupils, they were uncertain how effective and ethical these were. Further, a lack of available opportunities meant that participants felt they could not always support young people in achieving their goals. Based on these findings, we recommend greater investment in the implementation of staff training, more flexibility for schools to be able to meaningfully elicit and act on pupils' voices, and better vocational opportunities for autistic young people with additional learning needs. This would enable the principles of the Act, which have been widely lauded, to become a closer reality.     

The Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986: time to pay the piper?

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), Public Law 94-142, provides for a free, appropriate public education for handicapped children, as well as due process procedures. However, the EAHCA does not directly address relief available to parents who successfully allege inappropriate actions by school. In this article, we examine case law that has provided three primary types of relief (injunctive relief, tuition reimbursement, and attorneys' fees) in special education lawsuits. The Supreme Court's decision in Smith v. Robinson, (1984) which removed attorneys' fees for action under the EAHCA, is analyzed. The congressional reaction to Smith v. Robinson and the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986, Public Law 99-372, is described, and case law relying on that act is examined.     

英国《学徒制、技能、儿童和学习法案》述评

《学徒制、技能、儿童和学习法案》是英国近年来最为重要的职业教育法案。本文介绍了法案的出台背景;分析了法案的基本框架;并从对学徒制重要文档的规范、职业教育行政管理体系的变化、考试与资格制度的调整以及对员工离职培训的规范四个方面陈述了法案的主要内容;最后分别点评了法案的积极意义及其不足之处。     

The diagnosis of LD in English learners: is it nondiscriminatory?

This study examined the operationalization of one of the key reforms initiated by the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (U.S. Congress, 1975) and continued through the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Congress, 2004)--namely, nondiscriminatory assessment. The original and current specifications in federal law require that tests be selected and administered so as not to be racially, culturally, or sexually discriminatory. The specific dimensions studied here pertain to the nondiscriminatory diagnosis of learning disabilities (LD) in English learners. A checklist of legal and professional guidelines for making assessments of English learners was used to evaluate 19 psychological reports made on English learners as part of the assessment process for special education eligibility in a small, urban elementary school district in California. The results of this study present a fairly compelling profile of how the writers of psychological reports--school psychologists--do not use extant legal or professional guidelines for making nondiscriminatory assessments of bilingual children.     

The making of the dull,deficient and backward pupil in British elementary education 1870–1914

Abstract

Michel Foucault's concept of normalisation is taken as a basis to explore the factors involved in the identification of dull, deficient and backward pupils in British Elementary Education between 1870 and 1914. Normalisation consists of the five processes of comparison, differentiation, hierarchisation, homogenisation and exclusion. These processes operate through dividing practices which distribute groups socially and are supported in this work by scientific ideas. In this instance, the norm of the intellect is the basis of the dividing practices. The empirical focus opens with an examination of the main features of Elementary education. It then moves to consider the deliberations of the Royal Commission on the Blind, Deaf and Dumb, etc (1889) and those of the Departmental Committee on Defective and Epileptic Children (1898). The analysis concludes with a consideration of the consequences of the Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act, 1899, and its effects up until 1914.     

Challenges in planning transition to adulthood for young people who have special educational needs and disabilities: professional and managerial perspectives

This study reviewed perceived changes to planning and management of transitions to adulthood for young people with special educational needs and disabilities in three local authorities in England, following implementation of the Children and Families Act (2014). Wenger's ‘community of practice’ theoretical framework was used to examine how groups of professionals and managers working in education, health and social care in three areas, set about implementing selected radical changes required by the legislation. Telephone interviews with sixteen participants were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Themes identified related to professional activity, planning and organisation, implications for young people and families and outcomes. There were indications of shifts in professional conceptualisations and reported practices as a result of the Act. Participants described enhanced cross‐service communication and co‐ordinated working practices, achieved though service restructuring, co‐location and changed lines of accountability. An increased emphasis on long‐term planning and involving young people in planning and decision‐making was evident with regard to defining outcomes, and living and working as an adult. The results are considered in relation to the extent that mandated change can influence attitudes and cultures within communities of practice, contributing to the contemporary theoretical debate to incorporate issues relating to power.     

Parental perceptions of the 2014 SEND legislation

The study researched parent’s experiences of The Children and Families Act 2014 in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. A sample of parents using KIDS Services in the area were surveyed by questionnaire, both before and after the legislation came into force. Nearly half of the parents were aware of a change in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) legislation; and a third noticed a change in support for their child. Professionals are now more involved in SEND early identification, and most SEND needs were identified at or before the early year stage. The majority of parents thought that the support for their child was either always or sometimes well coordinated. Parents generally felt more involved in the process since the Act, and perceived improvements in educational support. Professional support for parents at diagnosis had increased over the studies, and educational, health and social care needs were generally being met. However, some parents thought that Information, communication and school support needed to improve, and that the voluntary sector was highly regarded. Implications in relation to practice were also made.     

The RIX Wiki: the use of multimedia advocacy to support person-centred planning in a special needs secondary school – implications for current policy and practice

The article documents findings from a pilot study undertaken in 2012–2013 in a special needs secondary school in the England, that trialled the use of a multimedia advocacy tool, “The RIX Wiki”. The trial was part of the pathfinder programme, which aimed to reform existing Special Education Needs provision, from the system of statementing to one of developing education health care plans. The reforms became enshrined in the Children and Families Act (2014). The findings were overall positive and helped with person-centred planning processes. The discussion is framed within current and future policy directives. We argue that multimedia advocacy approaches and software tools, like the “RIX Wiki” will have a continued role to play in ensuring the needs, aspirations and choices of children and young people with learning disabilities remain central.     

Acknowledgements

In this article, I describe how, despite good intentions and carefully considered procedures, strategies, and protocols developed to enhance parent-professional collaboration, collaborative interactions in public schools privilege the interpretation of the professional over that of the parent. As a consequence of this imbalance of power among professionals in schools, the collaborative ethic is far from that originally mandated by the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. I further suggest that, in the context of the traditional bureaucratic organization of schools, hierarchical authority and well-established power structures will further determine the potential for meaningful collaboration. This analysis holds implications for the implementation of Public Law 99-457, which places even greater emphasis on parental involvement and enduring partnerships with professionals.     

A closer examination of the education for all handicapped children act: A guide for the 1980S

The United States Congress has mandated that state and educational agencies make available to all handicapped children a free appropriate education. The purpose of this legislation has been primarily to protect the rights of handicapped children and their parents. The present paper discusses identification and evaluation guidelines that have been promulgated under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Procedures for Individual Education Programs that are in accordance with federal legislation are delineated. To satisfy federal mandates concerning the placement of handicapped children, public school systems are required to utilize a least restrictive environment, whereby complete segregation of handicapped from nonhandicapped children is prohibited. In further accordance with this legislation, either the parent or public agency may initiate a hearing for the purpose of challenging the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child.     

Farewell to the tick box inspector? Ofsted and the changing regime of school inspection in England

Since its inception in 1992 Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) has inspected schools under Section 9 of the Education (Schools) Act 1992; Section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996; and Section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Pressure on England to improve its system of education has not only emerged from the national need for all schools to serve their pupils well, but has also been prompted by an increasing emphasis on international league tables such as that produced by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). In tables such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), England is viewed as underperforming against comparable countries. As a result, Ofsted has introduced what the agency terms to be one of the most stringent and demanding inspection frameworks since its inception. This framework reduces the previous 29 inspection judgements to just four, purportedly placing a far greater emphasis on the professional judgement of the inspector and representing a major departure from the ‘tick box’ approach which characterised previous frameworks. This paper examines the paradoxical fate of inspector professional judgement and concludes that whilst this may appear to signal a rapprochement between inspectors and teaching profession, there are considerable tensions when professional judgement is considered alongside quality control within a highly complex system. The study concludes that in order that inspection attains credibility as a method by which to govern education, this shift requires a more considered approach to ways in which this professional judgement can be effective within the challenging environment of the English education system.     

美国学前阶段特殊教育全纳安置模式述评

美国是实施全纳性学前教育最早的国家之一,以1986年颁布《全体残疾儿童教育法修正案》为标志性起点。美国教育部向国会递交并公开发表的有关特殊教育法实施情况的十多个年度报告从实践层面展示了为全面落实全纳政策,为学前阶段(3-5岁)残疾幼儿提供的8种全纳教育安置模式。这些模式能够为我国学前阶段全纳教育的理论和实践提供参考和借鉴。     

Developing a competency framework for the initial training of educational psychologists working with young people aged 16–25

The Children and Families Act (2014) extends statutory protections for young people with special educational needs and disabilities until age 25. Consequently the core curriculum for trainee educational psychologists (TEPs) needs to be developed beyond the current focus of work with early years and school-age children. In order to define requisite professional competencies for working with young people aged 16–25 with learning difficulties and disabilities, and mental health needs, the Delphi Technique was employed to obtain consensus amongst an expert reference group. Two rounds of an online questionnaire and a face-to-face meeting with educational psychologists (EPs) reporting expertise in working with post-16 learners enabled the identification of areas to be added to, or extended within, existing training curricula. A competency framework for EPs working with young people aged 16–25 is proposed and implications for both TEPs and practitioner EPs explored.