Exploring inclusive education across Europe: some insights from the European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education

Abstract

<jats:p>The European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE) work focuses upon the collection and analysis of longitudinal, comparative national data related to inclusive education systems and learners with officially recognised special educational needs (SEN) among its 31 member countries. In this article, the EASIE work is discussed in relation to the key concepts of presence, placement, participation and progress within inclusive education systems.The findings of the EASIE work indicate differences and variations between countries in how they respond to all learners</jats:p>

A Cooperative Learning Intervention to Promote Social Inclusion in Heterogeneous Classrooms

“…While educational policies around the world have become more inclusive ( Ramberg and Watkins, 2020 ), the social inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN) still constitutes an area of concern. This concern has been expressed in a number of studies showing that children with SEN are less accepted by their peers and have fewer friends than their non-SEN peers ( Pijl et al, 2010 ; Nepi et al, 2015 ; Schwab, 2015 ; Avramidis et al, 2018 ; Banks et al, 2018 ).…”

Participation and ICT : Students with Special Educational Needs in Upper Secondary School

“…Consequently, statistics for the proportion of upper secondary school students who receive support in their schooling is inadequate. The upward trend of established IEPs during compulsory school and the higher proportion of students with an IEP in grade 9 could indicate that SEN might be even more prevalent in Swedish upper secondary education, as found in other European countries (Ramberg & Watkins, 2020).…”

“…Definitions, policy and practice for identifying and supporting students with SEN vary between countries. This affects the identification rate, which differs significantly between European countries (Ramberg & Watkins, 2020), making it difficult to estimate the overall prevalence of SEN. Furthermore, studies reporting the prevalence of SEN are not common and have primarily focused on students in compulsory education.…”

“…Several European researchers have reported the prevalence of SEN in primary school to be about 25% (Banks & McCoy, 2011;Smeets & Roeleveld, 2016;van der Veen et al, 2010) and a prevalence as high as 40% has been reported in a retrospective Swedish study among 17 000 students in compulsory school (Giota & Lundborg, 2007), based on students with registered access to special educational services. Based on an official decision of SEN, backed by a formal assessment process and a legal document of eligibility for educational support, agreed upon by the member countries in the European Agency, the mean SEN identification rate in Europe was 2% in 2018 (European Agency, 2020), which is lower than the total average of 4.5% in the data from 2014 and 2016 (Ramberg & Watkins, 2020). When comparing the SEN identification rate among students in primary school and lower secondary school, Ramberg and Watkins (2020) found a higher proportion of students with SEN at the higher school level in most European countries.…”

“…Based on an official decision of SEN, backed by a formal assessment process and a legal document of eligibility for educational support, agreed upon by the member countries in the European Agency, the mean SEN identification rate in Europe was 2% in 2018 (European Agency, 2020), which is lower than the total average of 4.5% in the data from 2014 and 2016 (Ramberg & Watkins, 2020). When comparing the SEN identification rate among students in primary school and lower secondary school, Ramberg and Watkins (2020) found a higher proportion of students with SEN at the higher school level in most European countries. Recent estimates of SEN prevalence among 17-year-old students in the European member countries range from less than 1% to 23% (European Agency, 2020).…”