The influence of child,family, home factors and pre‐school education on the identification of special educational needs at age 10

The early identification of young children's special educational needs (SEN), as well as the development of specific strategies to support those children identified with special needs, are increasingly recognised as crucial to facilitating good adjustment to school and to ensuring that such children are helped to reach their full potential in education. Using a large national sample of young children in England whose developmental progress was followed up from pre‐school, this study investigates which child, family, home and pre‐school factors can be viewed as risk or protective factors for later SEN‐status at age 10. The experience of high‐quality pre‐school education is shown to reduce the likelihood of a child being identified as experiencing SEN in the long run. Teachers’ assessments of SEN are found to be strongly related to children's reading and mathematics attainment, but other factors also predict SEN, including a child's age within a year group.     

Assessing the special education professional development needs of northern Malawian schoolteachers

This research examines special needs education professional development needs among both general and special education schoolteachers in northern Malawi. A semi‐structured questionnaire with open and close‐ended questions was used for the research. Quantitative and thematic analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which teachers believe that students with disabilities should be educated together with students without disabilities, the importance of professional development for teaching students with disabilities, prioritised professional development needs regarding special education knowledge, and self‐identified needs for successful special education classrooms. Results indicate that teachers are generally in favour of inclusive practices and identify a high need for special education professional development. Participants identified training and resources to teach students with visual impairments or auditory impairments as a high priority. Participants noted a need for improved infrastructure, more educational materials, and recognition by the government for work in special education.     

Segregation,integration, inclusion—the ideology and reality in Finland

In this paper, we try to examine the classical sociological points of special education, especially the organizational form of special education, social background of students and the minority status of students. The material of the study was collected mostly during 2003 from one large city in Finland. This city has more than a 100‐year‐long tradition of organizing special education, and it is also still organized very traditionally, that is mainly in special schools. The oldest functioning special education school was founded in 1901. This form of organization based on special schools is no longer typical in Finland. Over 1000 questionnaires were sent to special education school teachers, and students and their parents, as well as to special needs assistants. The percentage of returned responses was between 70% and 80%. Local material is practically the only way to get information of these critical points because of the Act on the Protection of Privacy and the administrative orientation of state statistics. The results show that boys are strongly over‐represented in special education. Over three out of four of the students in classroom‐based special education are boys. According to our comparison, the children from immigrant families account for less than one out of ten students in general education, but in classroom‐based special education they represent nearly 14%, and in part‐time special education as much as one‐quarter (25%). The form of education differs also in regard to the social class of the parents. The parents have been divided into upper, middle and lower social classes according to their occupation. The proportion of upper‐class parents of the student group in general education (42%) is doubled when compared to the parents of both special education groups. The majority of the parents of severe disabled students support the idea of special education schools, but the majority of the parents from the other special education groups are in favour of education in the nearest school.     

美国特殊教育学生的鉴定评估与启示

特殊教育学生的鉴定评估是特殊教育工作中的关键环节,它对于后续的教育安置、教育计划制定、教育数据统计和政府资金拨付等都具有重要意义.近年来我国越来越重视特殊儿童的鉴定评估工作,各地的残疾人教育专家委员会陆续发挥作用.美国在这一方面的工作体系已相对成熟,本文介绍了美国特殊教育学生鉴定评估工作相关的法律、流程、方法措施等内容...     

NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR HOME‐BASED LEARNING: THE CHALLENGE TO CAMPUS‐BASED INSTITUTIONS

Although there may be little expansion for conventional higher education on campus in the next decade, there is an unmet and growing need to provide home‐based continuing education. This will require an effective means of delivering learning materials to homes on a greater scale than can be handled by broadcasting alone, as well as the production of high quality software appropriate both to the means of delivery and the needs of students. There are several developments in technology which hold out promise for home use; these need to be developed as part of a wider learning system. Campus‐based institutions are well placed both to develop the hardware and to produce suitable learning materials, but this means that higher education institutions must show a much more flexible attitude to continuing education and to co‐operation with other organisations.     

日本全纳教育的实施体系、改革方向及面临的问题

日本全纳教育的特有形式为＂特殊需要教育＂,它的实施体系包括普通班、特殊需要教育班、资源教室、特殊需要教育学校及访问教育。日本政府从法律上、财政上对全纳教育大力支持,日本学校从特殊需要资源教室的设立、特殊需要教育学校功能的扩展、加强联合活动与学习等方面进行改革以迈向全纳教育。当前日本全纳教育还面临着观念、师资培养以及高年级学生回流等问题。     

Statements of special educational needs and mainstream secondary physical education in north‐west England

This article, by Anthony Maher of the University of Central Lancashire, explores, from the perspective of SENCos and learning support assistants (LSAs) in north‐west England, the perceived adequacy of Statements of special educational needs as they relate to physical education (PE). The findings, generated via online surveys, suggest that most SENCos and some LSAs believe that Statements are appropriate for all curricular subjects, with PE being no different. Thus, two groups who play an integral role in facilitating the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream secondary schools in England do not differentiate between classroom based and more physically orientated subjects such as PE, which could have a negative impact on the experiences of pupils with special educational needs in PE because of the contextual and dynamic nature of special educational needs. Indeed, because most Statements do not provide PE‐specific information or learning targets, teachers and LSAs are often unable to collaboratively plan and deliver inclusive lessons or monitor and evaluate the progress made by Statemented pupils in PE.     

Expansion of special education and promotion of inclusive education in China: conflict or cooperation? Stakeholders' views

A key objective of inclusive education is to provide learners with special educational needs with an environment that fosters a sense of belonging. They lose the sense of belonging when they feel being separated from the rest of society. Segregation is, however, a logically necessary method and means of the pursuit of inclusion. The focus of this study was to uncover the experiences and views of Chinese stakeholders regarding the possible conflict between expansion of special education (i.e., segregation, exclusion) and promotion of inclusive education (i.e., inclusion, mainstreaming). We conducted in-depth interviews with nine academics, administrators, and practitioners to better understand the possible impact of inclusive education on regular education. The main finding is that special education can be provided in four forms which the participants argued is an advantage to meet the needs of all learners. They argued that giving home education for learners with high severity, attending special education schools and mainstreaming schools are rehabilitation methods to prepare learners for full integration should they prove successful. The study contributes to a broader understanding of how special education is provided in China and its potential effects on regular education (e.g., challenges in teacher preparation, lack of resources).     

高职院校的发展:机遇、挑战与行动

目前高职教育处于迅速发展时期,面临着良好的发展机遇,同时也面临着诸多困难和挑战。高职院校要在竞争中求得生存和发展,当务之急是要培育一种特色战略理念,除了加强“硬件”建设,更重要的从战略、定位、专业、制度、精神等方面采取适合自身的发展战略。     

Mass Higher Education and the English: Wherein the Colleges?

One of the distinctive features of the English encounter with mass higher education has been the uncertain and ambiguous role of further education colleges as providers of undergraduate education. Both before and during the major expansion that marked the shift to a mass scale of higher education in England, the higher education offered by colleges in the further education sector was commonly regarded as a residual or ancillary activity; its courses mostly at levels below the first degree and its growth in numbers among the slowest in higher education. In the period that followed, these same colleges were accorded a special mission in the delivery of short‐cycle undergraduate education and, through their involvement in foundation degrees, were expected to lead a large part of the expansion in future years. The elevation of this provision, from a zone of ‘low’ or no policy to one of ‘high’ policy, has coincided with a radical reform of the planning, funding and quality arrangements for post‐compulsory education. Under conditions less than favourable to the achievement of their higher education goals, colleges remain the responsibility of one administrative sector and higher education institutions the responsibility of another.     

Educational Provision for Mildly Intellectually Disabled Children in Queensland: Development and Decline

From the mid‐twenties to the early seventies children now designated as mildly intellectually disabled were the recipients of the greater part of the special education budget and the energies of special education staff in Queensland. These students were by far the largest category of children with special needs catered for by the Department of Education's special education section. The thrust towards separate provision for this group came from within the Department itself supported by visiting experts, with no apparent need for parent advocacy. The integration debate and expansion of services to more severely intellectually disabled children appear to have directed the mildly disabled group back into the educational mainstream, raising the question of whether the expertise and support developed over the years within special education have accompanied them.     

Classwide peer tutoring for elementary and high school students at risk: listening to students’ voices

Teaching has become a very challenging profession with the requirements to provide appropriate individualised instruction in large and diverse classes. Problem behaviours displayed by students with special needs exacerbate the difficulties. This is especially true and intense in physical education, where students are exposed to extreme emotional situations under physical demands. Classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) is an evidence‐based teaching strategy that involves programmed interactions between peers and holds promise for the education of students at risk who display antisocial behaviours. This article discusses the implementation and modification of CWPT in third and eighth grades in a K‐12 inner‐city charter school in the USA, directed towards students who have special educational and social needs. First, the two CWPT applications are described. Second, authors share the students’ reactions to the pedagogy. Third, based on students’ responses and the teacher's accumulated experience delivering CWPT, the article discusses how to tailor CWPT better to each of the grade levels.     

Learning habits of students with special needs in short‐term vocational education programmes

This research examined some characteristics of the learning habits of students with special needs and those without them in programmes of short‐term vocational education in five areas: motivation, learning and learning techniques, emotional, social and the area of self‐evaluation. The research sample consisted of 140 students from different secondary schools. The Questionnaire on the Learning Habits of Adolescents was used for the purpose of the study. The differences between the means from individual learning habit scales, between the students with special needs or without them, were discovered by one‐way analysis of variance. Basic findings of empirical research emphasise that there exist statistically significant differences between the students with special needs and the students without special needs in four areas of learning habits. Among the findings causing concern in connection with learning habits, we would like to underscore the fact that students with special needs are perceived as less efficient at and less competent in coping with learning and work tasks. These students are not familiar with effective methods and strategies for successful learning, which leads to the feelings of frustration and helplessness in case of failure. In order to cultivate an effective and supportive educational environment for students with special needs, short‐term vocational schools should develop learning/teaching models that provide a potentially powerful alternative to traditionally directed teaching approaches.     

Country Briefing: Special education in Denmark

Denmark is a country with a relatively high expenditure on education, and was one of the first countries in the Integration movement. Now the country is including all but 1.25 per cent of all pupils in a comprehensive school. The 1.25 per cent are attending special schools or special classes. To make this possible, 13 per cent of all students in regular schools on a yearly basis receive special needs education support as a supplement to regular education. Special education within the regular school system has existed for 99 years, and special teacher training has a 66-year history, originating in training of speech therapists. At present, the prevalence of special needs education is between 25 and 35 per cent, and this gives rise to questions about the relation between special needs education and differentiation of instruction which, in turn, has implications for training of teachers in special needs education.     

Food Safety Practices Assessment Tool: An Innovative Way to Test Food Safety Skills among Individuals with Special Needs

Abstract: This article describes an innovative assessment tool designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a food safety skills curriculum for learners receiving special education services. As schools respond to the increased demand for training students with special needs about food safety, the need for effective curricula and tools is also increasing. A Food Safety Education for High School and Transition Special Needs Students curriculum served as the basis upon which our assessment tool was developed. The project was a collaborative effort by food safety and education professionals in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. This USDA‐funded initiative emerged from teacher‐generated data that identified critical gaps in food safety knowledge and skills among students with disabilities (SWD) receiving special education services. As an adjunct to this curriculum, a Food Safety Practices Assessment Tool was developed to: 1) conduct observations of students as they demonstrate food safety practices, and 2) use this information to design classroom‐based learning activities that are aligned with students’ Individual Education Plans (IEP). Pilot data suggest that the tool is valid and reliable for use in a kitchen‐based setting. This is the first known tool of its kind to test food safety skills of individuals with special needs in a real‐world environment. Further testing is needed to determine the usefulness of the tool for broader audiences.     

Statistical trends and developments within inclusive education in Turkey

The education of students with special needs in an inclusive environment is becoming more widespread throughout the world. Similarly, in Turkey, the inclusion of students with disabilities has also improved. However, current statistical trends and developments within inclusive education are not well known. The purpose of this study is to provide a statistical analysis of special education data, which were obtained from the Ministry of National Education of Turkey. The findings indicate that some statistical components of special education are missing from most official publications of educational statistics and the number of students and the proportions of special education categories in inclusive education vary from year to year. However, in Turkey, the percentage of students in inclusive education, of all students with special needs, is higher than many European countries. The results show that the number of students with special needs, as well as students in inclusive education, has rapidly increased. Turkey needs to focus on improving the schooling rate of students with special needs, and the quality and variety of special education services within inclusive education.     

Identities of special needs education in the discourse of Finnish professors of the field

This article examines both the discourses upon which Finnish special needs education professors draw when speaking about their field, and the consequent identities for it. The research material consists of theme interviews with 10 professors of special needs education and is analysed from a socio-constructionist, discourse analytical perspective. The results show that the professors defined special needs education from two separate viewpoints: on the basis of their own personal views, or on the basis of the classical definitions of special needs education. The professors spoke about the field through five different discourses: professional, emancipatory, relativistic, autonomous and critical. The majority of these discourses constructed special needs education as an important part of the science field, although the relativistic discourse problematised its position as an independent discipline.     

Changing policy,legislation and its effects on inclusive and special education: a perspective from Wales

This article, by Jean Ware of Bangor University School of Education, examines policy developments in education in Wales since devolution, and their implications for inclusive and special education. This is set in the context of the demographics of Wales, which, it is argued, have a significant influence on policy and on the nature of educational provision as a whole. The discussion initially focuses on issues related to the Welsh language. The article then discusses four policy initiatives (the Foundation Phase, the Literacy and Numeracy Framework, the Masters in Educational Practice and the proposed reform of initial teacher education and training), intended to respond to Wales's poor performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment, and their potential impact, as well as the White Paper on reforming the special educational needs system in Wales. It is too soon to discuss the impact of these special educational needs‐specific reforms, but the differences from the English special educational needs reforms highlight the inherent tensions in special educational needs systems. It is argued that the Tabberer Report's critique of the teacher education system in Wales, which emphasises the need for teacher education to be strongly connected to relevant research, provides an opportunity to improve the quality of education in Wales for all children; but that considerable investment, and a willingness to address the potential tensions between the different initiatives, is necessary to achieve such an outcome.     

DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSIFICATION OF THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS OF FRENCH UNIVERSITIES

With special reference to the Paul Sabatier University of Toulouse, the authors trace the development of the French universities from the élitist Napoleonic institutions that they still were in the early 1960's to the mass, diversified institutions of today. They stress the importance of the events of 1968 as a major turning point which had a particularly strong impact because they occurred during a period of prosperity. Thus the wide‐scale expansion, democratization, diversification, and massification which occurred led to a positive reaction to the call for increased vocationalization and co‐operation with industry which characterized the lean years that followed. Other stimuli for change and adaptation have been modifications in the legal structure of higher education, the need to increase offerings in continuing education, policies favouring decentralization and regionalization, and the influence of European Union higher education policies. The need to provide high quality higher education in a number of areas to a very large proportion of the age cohort is understood to be a social and economic necessity. The evolution of French higher education since 1968 could offer lessons and examples to the higher education systems of eastern and central Europe in their efforts to cope with transition. The role of universities in the modern world has been greatly enhanced. Important changes have occurred in French higher education over the past twenty‐five years, the resultpartly of the adoption of new laws, of social evolution, of economic needs and challenges, and of individual initiatives undertaken and voluntary policies adopted by universities.     

What do special educational needs coordinators think they do?

In this article, Elizabeth Cowne presents the results of research which began as an investigation into the organisational contexts in which special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) work, and continued as an evaluation of the outreach SENCO training accredited with the London Institute of Education. Questionnaire data was collected from course members over a three‐year period. Further research used focus groups in four London boroughs to explore SENCOs' views of their constant and emerging roles. Interviews with local education authority (LEA) officers from the same London boroughs enquired how SENCOs and their schools were supported. Findings confirmed earlier research showing the importance of management support. Where SENCOs had sufficient non‐contact time and status, they felt efficient. Taking part in the long courses enhanced confidence, skills and knowledge. The focus groups uncovered the wide variety and expanding roles held by SENCOs: the majority requiring work with pupils, parents, teachers, teaching assistants (TAs) and outside agencies. LEA support was seen as essential in maintaining this ever‐changing development.