Evaluation of school achievements of students with special educational needs – a preliminary study

Abstract

In the first part of the article, the authors present new regulations in Kazakhstan that oblige teachers to monitor students’ academic achievements; they also draw attention to problems relating to the evaluation system for students with special educational needs in inclusive education. This gave grounds for undertaking research with the aim to analyze foreign experiences (in selected countries) and reflect in detail on the student evaluation system in Kazakhstan. In the next part of the article, the authors briefly outline Australian solutions and then provide a more detailed description of Polish and Russian solutions. A special focus is given to the analysis of the Kazakh system monitoring academic achievements in students with special educational needs, and both positive changes and the need to develop new systemic solutions are pointed out. The authors have found that I. Altynsarin National Academy of Education developed psychological and pedagogical approaches (student-centered, activity-based, and health-saving), pedagogical conditions, tasks, and functions of criterial evaluation of educational achievements, and requirements for a system of criterial evaluation of educational achievements of young students with special educational needs in an inclusive environment. At the same time, the questions concerning the procedure for evaluating individual achievements, the selection of methods, forms, means, and conditions of assessment as well as the consideration of personal indicators and the teacher’s professional and psychological readiness to participate in the assessment of students’ achievements have not been answered. That is why it is necessary to continue research on the process monitoring academic achievements in students with SEN that would result in creating a system to evaluate the performance of students with SEN, taking into consideration the Kazakh solutions and best practices as well as other countries’ experiences.