1. School careers of children with special educational needs in The Netherlands ECER 2013 Guuske Ledoux, University of Amsterdam Ed Smeets, Radboud University of Nijmegen The Netherlands

2. Background In the Netherlands: change in national policy concerning SEN children Decisions about allocation of budget will be transferred to regional level (local school boards) Expectations: more inclusive education, less referral to special education, improved school careers of SEN children

3. Evaluation program Different policy goals, different levels of evaluation Essential: basic information on the present state of school careers and level of achievement of SEN children, both in mainstream and in special education Intended: repeated measurements afterwards

4. Research Questions What is the development of the school careers of SEN-children in primary education, as compared to non-SEN- children? Does the presence of SEN-children in mainstream classes affect the educational performance of non-SEN-children in these classes?

5. Methods Large cohort study in primary schools (COOL 5-18 ) Grades 2, 5 and 8 3 Year interval ‘Pupil Profile’: Questionnaire, completed by teacher for every pupil in class ‘SEN Profile’: Questionnaire, completed by teacher for every pupil in class considered to have SEN Tests and pupil questionnaires. Data linked with national data about school careers

6. Definition of SEN A pupil with SEN in mainstream education is a pupil … for whom there is an individual education plan; and/or for whom a specific approach or extra help is needed; and/or who has a specific problem or learning difficulty. Judgment by the teacher

7. Overview careers, % Grade 2-5 Grade 5-8 No SENSENNo SENSEN standard career91.760.498.290.3 in mainstream school with grade repetition 7.727.91.56.1 referred to special education ‘light’ 0.58.30.22.1 referred to special education ‘severe’ 0.13.30.11.5 total N3944133134731428

8. SEN categorisation (Based on frequencies): a)Learning problems b)Externalising or internalising problem behaviour c)Fysical, mental or psychiatric disorders; also language disorders d)Combination of (b) and (c)

9. School careers x SEN category, % grade 2-5 learning problem behavioral problem other combination behavioral- other standard career 81.668.262.650.7 in mainstream school with grade repetition 15.026.831.830.9 referred to special education ‘light’ 3.43.03.713.7 referred to special education ‘severe’ 0.02.01.94.6 total N 147503107950

10. Other SEN indicators, % grade 2-5 SEN with individual budget SEN delayed curriculum SEN according to teacher standard career 65.448.360.4 in mainstream school with grade repetition 3.824.227.9 referred to special education ‘light’ 7.718.88.3 referred to special education ‘severe’ 23.18.73.3 Total N 521491331

11. Conclusions 1 Within mainstream schools the school careers of SEN- pupils are less advantageous as compared to the school careers of non-SEN-pupils SEN-pupils who have been early identified (at the age of five) also have less advantageous careers as compared to SEN-pupils who have been identified at a later stage (age of eight) SEN-pupils with more severe and complex problems also perform less well. The worst performance has been found for pupils who are entitled to extra funding or who are placed in a delayed curriculum program.

12. Class composition Movement to more inclusive education > implicates more SEN pupils in mainstream schools Will this affect the achievements and wellbeing of non-SEN pupils?

13. Methods Multi level analyses grades 5 and 8 Dependent variables: test scores and pupil questionnaires > self-efficacy, wellbeing in school and motivation for school work Independent variables: class composition > % SEN pupils and mean score indicating the ‘weight’ of SEN pupils Controlling for: gender, socio-economic status

14. Results for test scores In grade 5 and 8 small negative effects of the mean ‘weight’ of SEN pupils on the achievement of non-SEN pupils In grade 5 no effect of % SEN pupils in the classroom on of achievement non-SEN pupils In grade 8 small positive effect of % SEN pupils in the classroom on achievement of non-SEN pupils

15. Results on wellbeing etc No significant effects in grade 5 In grade 8 small negative effect of the mean ‘weight’ of SEN pupils on the wellbeing of non-SEN pupils

16. Conclusions 2 No influence of proportion of SEN-pupils on achievement or wellbeing of their non-SEN classmates; this is consistent with international literature Negative, but very small influence of the total ‘weight’ of SEN pupils on achievement and wellbeing of their non-SEN classmates No arguments against more inclusive education

17. Thank you for your attention foto: Edgar Tossijn gledoux@kohnstamm.uva.nl