Promoting the greater involvement of pupils with special needs in the management of their own assessment and learning processes

Richard Rose, General Inspector (Special Educational Needs), Northants Inspection and Advisory Service, Sylvia McNamara, Lecturer in Education, the University of Leicester and John O'Neil, Lecturer in Education Management, Massey University, Palmerstone, New Zealand discuss the initial findings of the QUEST Project.     

Book Reviews

Encouragement Works Best: Positive approaches to classroom management.
Special Educational Needs Beyond 16…
Special Educational Needs in Schools
Special Education Integration in Europe
Practical Record Keeping for Special Schools (Resource Material for Staff Development
Steps Towards Graduation
Exclusion from School: Provision for Disaffection at Key Stage 4.
MAKATON. National Curriculum Series. Part 1. (Book and Video).
The Reality of Dyslexia
Feeling Violent     

Book Reviews

Technology for All
Special Educational Needs and the Education Reform Act
Special Educational Needs
The Music Curriculum and Special Educational Needs
The Governor, The Law and Special Educational Needs
A Struggle for Choice
Patterns of Educational Integration
Practical Approaches to Bullying
Attachment Behaviour and the Schoolchild
Leisure for People with Profound and Multiple Disabilities     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Kate Wall, Special Needs and the Early Years
Tessa Knott (ed.), An Introduction to Special Educational Needs in Early Years
Linda Watson, Spotlight on Special Educational Needs: Hearing impairment
John Thacker, Dave Strudwick and Elly Babbedge, Educating children with emotional and behavioural difficulties: Inclusive practice in mainstream schools
David Allen (ed.), Ethical Approaches to Physical Interventions: Responding to challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities
Rebecca A. Moyes, Addressing the Challenging Behaviour of Children with High-functioning Autism/Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom: A guide for teachers and parents
Lisa Pyles, Hitchhiking through Asperger Syndrome     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia): Challenges and Responses P.D. Pumfrey, R. Reason
Staff Training and Special Educational Needs Graham Upton (ed.)
The Curriculum Challenge: Access to the National Curriculum for Pupils with Learning Difficulties R. Ashdown, B. Carpenter, K. Bovair (eds.)
Scripted Fantasy in the Classroom E. Hall, C. Hall, A. Leech
Helping Five-to-Eight-Year-Olds with Special Educational Needs M. Chazan, A. Laing, D. Davies
Teaching Pupils with Special Needs M. Burnham, W. Gilmore, H. Brayton
Behind Special Education; A Critical Analysis of Professional Culture and School Organisation Thomas M. Skrtic
Literacy for All Diane Ackerman, Helen Mount David Fulton     

Teachers reviewing Annual Reviews

Phyllis Jones, Senior Lecturer (Special Educational Needs), and John Swain, Reader in Disability Studies, at the University of Northumbria, report on the first stage of a qualitative investigation into participants' views of, and feelings about, Annual Reviews. Although this article was submitted before the publication of Special Educational Needs: Consultation Document on the Proposed Revision of the SEN Code of Practice (DfEE, 1999), both highlight the need 'to reduce the paperwork required of schools and of LEAs in relation to annual reviews' (p.4). The Document does not envisage any fundamental change to the current regulatory framework for Annual Reviews but this small-scale study highlights the pressing need for organisationalreform.     

Pamphlets Received

Book reviewed in this article:
Understanding Learning Difficulties Kathleen Devereux
Teaching the Child with Special Needs Jeanette Raymond
Learning for Independence A. Dean and S. Hegarty (eds.)
Integrated Programmes for Handicapped Adolescents and Adults R.I Brown (ed.)
The Law of Special Educational Needs Bryan Cox Croom Helm.     

REVIEWS

Schools for Special Needs 2005–2006 – a complete guide Gabbitas Educational Consultants Leadership and SEN: Meeting the Challenge in Special and Mainstream Settings Nick Burnett Supporting Mathematical Thinking Anne Watson, Jenny Houssart and Caroline Roaf (eds) Assessing and Developing Communication and Thinking Skills in People with Autism and Communication Difficulties Kate Silver and Autism Initiatives Listen to Us! Citizenship Education for Young People with Special Educational Needs. A resource for staff working with young people aged 11+ Nottingham City PTC et al.     

Using solution focused brief therapy in individual referrals for bullying

The authors work in a city local education authority Special Educational Needs Support Service with an Anti-Bullying Project that continues to develop effective approaches to dealing with bullying in schools. This paper describes the project's use of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and reports on the outcomes of a large number of interventions, particularly with pupils of secondary school age. The support group approach, developed within this project and published in Educational Psychology in Practice, is referred to in the government's anti-bullying pack as a key strategy. The authors show that SFBT provides another effective strategy to support pupils vulnerable to bullying in both primary and secondary schools.     

Professional development to meet special educational needs

March this year saw the publication of the first report for more than ten years to address key issues concerning the initial training, induction and continuing professional development of teachers with responsibilities for pupils with special educational needs. Entitled Professional Development to Meet Special Educational Needs the Report has been produced by a working party of the Special Educational Needs Training Consortium (SENTC) and funded by the Department for Education and Employment.
Olga Miller, Chair, and Malcolm Garner, Secretary, of the Consortium, chart the development of SENTC, summarise the Report and, from its recommendations, identify future options for sustainable teacher training and development in relation to pupils with special educational needs.     

The Connotation of Special Education Labels for Professionals in the Field

Brahm Norwich, Professor of Educational Psychology and Special Educational Needs at Exeter University (formerly Professor of Special Education, at the Institute of Education, University of London) discusses ways in which labelling can affect attitudes to, and provision for, pupils with special educational needs. He gives details of an in-depth study on the attitudes of experienced teachers, trainee teachers and trainee educational psychologists.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Liz Maudslay, Lesley Dee, Helen Hayhoe and Richard Byers Enhancing Quality of Life — facilitating transitions for people with profound and complex learning difficulties
Sally Capper SENT AHEAD: the IPSEA Guide to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal
Barry Gray and Robin Jackson (eds) Advocacy and Learning Disability
Irvine S. Gersch and Adam Gersch (eds) Resolving Disagreement in Special Educational Needs: a practical guide to conciliation and mediation
Caroline Roaf Co-ordinating Services for Included Children — joined up action
Fleur Griffiths and Collaborators Communication Counts: speech and language difficulties in the early years
Christina Tilstone and Richard Rose (eds) Strategies to Promote Inclusive Practice
Dave Sherratt and Melanie Peter Developing Play and Drama in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Amanda Kirby and Sharon Drew Guide to Dyspraxia and Developmental Co-ordination Disorders     

Book review

Book reviewed in this article: WOLFENDALE, SHEILA (ed.) (1993) Assessing Special Educational Needs.     

The Chingford Hall School Screening Project: Can we have some more educational psychologist time please?

This paper describes the development of a tailor-made Special Educational Needs screening device developed between an Educational Psychology Service (EPS) and a large primary school. Soft systems methodology was used to structure and evaluate the work. The project began when school staff requested a significant increase in Educational Psychologist time to undertake 40 additional child assessments. What was required was a way of prioritising the school's concerns in line with local Special Educational Needs audit procedures. Working in partnership, the EPS and school devised a screening checklist. Of note is the unique scoring key, which factored in the school's level of concern and values about children's needs. As a consequence, some items were emphasised more than others were. An evaluation study by Kelly revealed that school staff found the screening checklist to be generally useful, not only in prioritising children for assessment, but also in assisting the construction of individual education plans.     

The Scottish Education Minister Replies

Mr J. Allan Stewart, Minister for Industry and Education, Marion Blythman, Head of Special Education, Moray House College, Edinburgh, on Current Developments in Provision for Special Educational Needs     

Notes on the Green Paper: an Initial Response

Michael Farrell, Education Inspector (SEN) for the London Borough of Hillingdon, considers the practical implications of the recent Green Paper, Excellence for All Children: Meeting Special Educational Needs , for teachers, schools and LEAs (local education authorities).     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Making Special Schools Ordinary? Derek Baker, Keith Bovair (eds.)
Decision Making for Special Educational Needs Tecmedia
Austism: Explaining the Enigma Uta Frith
Early Communicative Skills Gilbert MacKay, William Dunn
The Strugglers Tony Martin
What is Special Education? John Fish
Encouraging Expression Tessa Roberts (ed.)
Special Children Handbook Paul Widlake (ed.)     

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     

'After the Statement': Reading progress made by secondary students with specific literacy difficulty provision

Students identified as experiencing a specific literacy difficulty or dyslexia may receive considerable additional support through a Statement of Special Educational Needs, but little is known about the reading outcome for the students receiving this support. This study investigated the reading decoding progress of 67 students who had been given a Statement of Special Educational Needs for specific literacy difficulties (SpLD). Also, the relationship between the rate of reading progress and intellectual ability (IQ) was investigated. The results showed that students receiving additional support made just over 6 months of reading progress per year of support. Approximately 13% of students made progress towards 'catching up' to their peers. No significant difference was found between three ability groups in terms of reading decoding progress, and the correlation between IQ and rate of reading decoding progress was near zero. The implications for special education programming were discussed.