Worlds apart? The nature and quality of the educational experiences of pupils with a statement for special educational needs in mainstream primary schools

Abstract

from the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS) project showed that support from teaching assistants (TAs) had a strong negative impact on the academic progress of pupils, and this applied particularly to pupils with a statement of special educational needs (SEN). Although the DISS project found that such pupils experienced less contact with teachers, little is known about school-and classroom-level decision-making relating to provision. This paper addresses the nature and quality of the educational experiences of pupils with statements, and who has responsibility for putting in place and delivering provision for these pupils within schools. Results come from the Making a Statement (MAST) project, which tracked the educational experiences of 48 9-and 10-year-old pupils with the highest level of SEN, attending mainstream primary schools in England. The study involved the thematic analysis of 48 detailed pupil case studies, drawing on interview, documentation and field note data. Results are presented in terms of four key themes: (1) the explicit and subtle forms of separation these pupils experience daily; (2) the high level of pedagogical decision-making TAs have for pupils with statements; (3) the impoverished pedagogical diet pupils with statements receive, compared to their peers; and (4) the gaps in teachers' and TAs' knowledge concerning meeting the needs of pupils with statements. The findings have particular implications for the deployment of TAs and for provision for pupils with SEN, with and without statements.

Inclusion: the role of special and mainstream schools

“…Conversely, Waddington and Reed's () comparison of the effects of mainstream and special school on National Curriculum outcomes in learners with ASD in four local authorities in England concluded that mainstream learners have no greater academic success than learners in special schools. Similar to Webster and Blatchford (), they reported that access to TAs correlated negatively with academic outcomes for those children in mainstream provision. De Boer et al's () Norwegian study also referred to a negative impact of TAs: reducing the possibility of contact between the student with special educational needs and his/her peers and thus reducing the potential for inclusion.…”

“…Staff expertise is indeed crucial to the success of inclusion. Webster and Blatchford () extended the literature on deficiencies in teachers’ and TAs’ special educational needs expertise in mainstream schools. The Making a Statement study tracked 48 Year 5 pupils with Statements for either moderate learning difficulties or BESD, because these categories were likely to detect school support factors connected to problems with learning and classroom engagement.…”

What is dyslexia? An exploration of the relationship between teachers' understandings of dyslexia and their training experiences

“…Both reports suggest the use of continued professional development (CPD) following ITT for teachers to gain a better knowledge of the subject. However, Webster and Blatchford's (2015) results suggest that this may not be happening. Consequentially, it is important to know whether teachers believed their ITT covered dyslexia sufficiently and whether they have received any CPD training in addition to their ITT.…”

Chapter 3. Who has the responsibility for teaching pupils with SEN in mainstream primary schools? Implications for policy arising from the ‘Making a Statement’ study

“…However, quantitative and qualitative analyses of these data identified several key concerns. For more on the MAST study, see Webster and Blatchford (, , in press).…”