Can school psychologists be inclusive when delivering evidence‐based behavioural interventions in special schools, behaviour units or clinics? A systematic mapping literature review

Abstract

School psychologists (SPs) have emerged as a key agent in delivering or orchestrating evidencebased, behavioural interventions in specialist settings with students who have a disability and challenging behaviour. These trends in practice create complex tensions and ethical dilemmas for SPs. UNICEF ( 2017) argue that all children with disabilities should be educated in mainstream settings and recommend that specialist education provision ends. Indeed, challenging behaviour is often the primary reason given to justify why children with disabilities are placed at a special school rather than their local mainstream school. A mapping literature review of research literature published 2009-2019 was undertaken to investigate this issue-namely, the type of specialist behavioural interventions delivered in specialist settings by SPs-and illuminate any tensions or ethical dilemmas arising. Contrary to expectations, literature reviewed was unclear whether SPs are increasingly involved in specialist settings delivering evidence-based behavioural interventions. Articles surveyed tended to explore the use of evidence-based behavioural interventions in mainstream settings to deescalating challenging behaviours, reducing the risk that students with disabilities are referred out of mainstream into specialist provision. Several studies captured by this review critically questioned whether evidence-based behavioural interventions were suitable for use in educational settings of any type with students with a disability. Directions for future research are given, specifically: research should illuminate precisely what, if any, involvement SPs have in delivering behavioural interventions to students with disabilities in special schools, behaviour units and clinics, including greater discussion about any associated benefits or ethical risks.

Impact of Socio-Demographic Variables of Basic Level Teachers’ School-Based Assessment Practices in Jasikan Municipality, Ghana

“…Rahman et al (2021) declared that teachers find it very difficult to implement the SBA because of some changes to the previous assessment where individual assessors or teachers formulated their own items and administered them. According to Yan and Brown (2021), most teachers lack the required skills to accomplish the goals of the SBA as confirmed by other researchers like Ahenkora (2019, Armstrong (2021, Nsabayezu et al (2023) and Marty et al (2023). This study sought to establish the effect of socio-demographic variables on SBA practices among basic school-level teachers…”

“…SBA is an assessment of a holistic evaluation of the National Education policy. SBA is exercised in schools aimed at strengthening the quality system of assessment and evaluation (Ahenkora, 2019;Armstrong, 2021).…”

Introduction to the Special Issue: exclusion, expulsion and suspension of students with disabilities: advancing knowledge, preventing educational exclusion

“…School suspensions and exclusions present an existential threat to the operation of educational inclusion across the world, for several reasons. First, in England, Australia and the United States the rates of school suspension and exclusion, typically done on disciplinary behavioural grounds, appear to be on an upward trend, affecting ever greater overall numbers of students (Armstrong, 2021; Branley, 2019; Johnson and Sullivan, 2016). Decades of research have consistently highlighted the negative flow‐on outcomes of these official actions: the problem behaviour is typically not ‘solved’ by suspension or exclusion from school because alternative behaviours are not taught (Sharkey and Fenning, 2012) but the young person is more likely to: develop a mental health condition; experience poor educational attainment (Theriot, Craun and Dupper, 2010); and be involved with the criminal justice system (Novak, 2019).…”