[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Research

The impact of Reading Recovery three years after intervention

This research is an evaluation of Reading Recovery, an intensive one-to one reading programme which is part of the Every Child a Reader strategy that targets six-year olds identified as being poor readers. Quantitative assessments show that, three years after the intervention has been delivered to, there continues to be a significant improvement on reading levels. Qualitative interview data...

01.06.10

Lamb Inquiry: Parental Confidence Projects

The resource is an online report on the work of eight local authorities who successfully bid for project money to support and explore ways of increasing parental confidence in the SEN assessment process. The projects were commissioned by the Lamb Inquiry. This inquiry was led by Brian Lamb, chair of the Special Education Consortium which is a broad consortium of voluntary and local government...

31.03.10

Screening tests of babies for ‘key milestones’ at nine months might help to identify children who will need support for their learning in their pre-school years.

The research is reported in a book just published from the Millennium Cohort Study of nearly 15,000 children in the United Kingdom. It found that the delayed development of gross motor skills (such as crawling) and fine motor skills, (for example, holding objects with fingers) affected about one in ten children. This was associated with delayed cognitive development and behavioural adjustment at...

22.02.10

Dilemmas of Difference, inclusion and disability: international perspectives

This resource is a conference paper prepared by Brahm Norwich, Professor of Educational Psychology & Special Educational Needs, School of Education & Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter, which was presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference in 2006.

05.02.10

Excerpt from cover of transitions research report

Post-16 Transitions of Pupils with Special Educational Needs

This is a report on the first of five phases (called waves 1-5) of a longitudinal research study commissioned by the DfEE. It investigates the experiences, achievements and attitudes of young people with special educational needs during their transition from secondary education to early adult life. The aim of the study is to identify transition processes that are effective and where barriers are...

28.07.09

Evaluation of the Speech and Language Therapy Projects- supported by the Standards Fund 2000-2001

This resource is a report detailing the findings of an independent evaluation of 26 speech and language therapy pilot projects supported by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (now the DCSF) through the 2000 – 2001 Standards Fund. The Educational Support and Inclusion Research and Teaching Group in the Faculty of Education of the University of Manchester were awarded a grant to...

10.11.08

Review of the research literature on educational interventions for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders

This is a NfER literature review on educational interventions for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders. The author examines the quality of literature available for use by practitioners and has included within this review literature from 1943 through to 2002. She includes 103 references. The review explores literature which is grounded in practical observation and reflection – practitioner...

05.09.08

John Bercow publishes a review on provision for children with speech, language and communications needs

This is an independent review into speech and language provision requested by Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary and Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary and undertaken by John Bercow MP who examined provision for children and young people with speech, language and communications needs.

04.09.08

Building Relationships for Learning: effective use of adult support in classrooms for pupils with SEN. (R&DA 3: 16)

The research seeks to develop practical ways in which teachers can be better trained to work effectively with TAs in promoting learning for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). The project aims to design, pilot and deliver a set of materials that will contribute to improved teacher training for effective joint working between TAs and class and subject teachers. The materials will be...

30.06.08

‘Skills for Primary Schools – Movement and Coordination Resources’ (R&DA 3: 15)

The rationale for this project has been developed as a response to findings from a recent small scale qualitative evaluation entitled 'The Occupational Therapy Into Schools Project (OTIS)' carried out by a local Occupational Therapy Service (OT) and Faculty of Health, Canterbury Christ University.

30.06.08

How might acting as TAs, help trainees develop their understanding of pupils’ learning needs? (R&DA 3: 14)

It is a requirement of the new TDA Standards for QTS that trainees have an informed understanding of how to raise the achievement and promote the well being of pupils with SEN in classrooms and other educational settings. In order to do this, Trainees need to know how to communicate with, and effectively deploy, Teaching Assistants (TAs) and other adults they will meet in their professional work....

30.06.08

Preparing Trainee Teachers and Learning Support Assistants (LSA’s) to Include Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Physical Education (PE) (R&DA 3: 13)

According to authors such as Smith and Green (2004) and Morely et al (2005), PE teachers have reported feelings of constraint caused by an increased presence of LSA’s in lessons in which they are inexperienced in the subject area, and provide impractical support to children with SEN. Smith and Green (2004: 601) suggest that these restrictions are due to a lack of PE and SEN training resulting...

30.06.08

‘Personalised learning for school students with SEN: Ensuring ITT staff and trainees understand the needs of SEN learners’ (R&DA 3: 12)

Reading University IoE currently has established a strong foundation in all ITT programmes which focuses on helping trainees address the needs of students with SEN. Last year, we successfully piloted an innovation in our BA Ed programme which placed third year students in SEN units in mainstream schools. The secondary PGCE currently places a number of trainees in special schools and units in...

30.06.08

Story Links: A parent-partnership intervention to support pupils at risk of exclusion that uses therapeutic storywriting to support pupils’ emotional well-being and reading skills. (R&DA 03: 11)

Story Links uses therapeutic storywriting to engage parents of pupils (6-11 years) at risk of exclusion in the education of their child. For many of these pupils, emotional difficulties in school can be related to attachment difficulties with their parents or carers. Story Links is a solution-focused programme which uses the metaphor in joint storywriting to encourage the parent/carer to think...

30.06.08

Trainee teachers tapping into Paraprofessionals in secondary schools (TaPs) (R&DA 3: 10)

The research rationale recognises that paraprofessionals in secondary schools are repositories of vast stores of knowledge about families in the local population whose secondary aged children have special educational needs, what those individual student needs are and what are appropriate learning styles and motivational tactics for such students. The value of the craft knowledge of such...

30.06.08

Movement As Inclusive Pedagogy In The Early Years (R&DA 3: 09)

Movement education is surprisingly under-used as pedagogy in the early years, despite the widely recognised importance of physical activity as the underpinning for children’s holistic development. An established body of work exists stemming from the work of Laban in the 1930s, and subsequently Veronica Sherborne in the 1980s in relation to people with special needs. With the revival of interest...

30.06.08

Learning about Special Needs in Handwriting (R&DA 3: 08)

Handwriting, and in particular orthographic-motor integration (automaticity of letter production), appears to play a role in facilitating higher order composing processes by freeing up working memory to deal with the complex tasks of planning, organizing, revising and regulating the production of text. In this way, automatic handwriting facilitates composing. Research undertaken into the...

30.06.08

Boy-friendly teaching: using fathers to develop resources to support QTS (R&DA 3: 07)

Aims: The project seeks to: • enhance the awareness and skills of ITT trainees, tutors and school-located mentors regarding the role of fathers in the education of their sons • develop and deepen the knowledge, skills and understanding of each group regarding the crucial role of fathers in education. • Provide case...

30.06.08

Extended Schools: Developing and Enhancing ITT Tutor Capacity (R&DA 3: 06)

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES 2005) described an extended school as one providing activities and services, often beyond the school day to address the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community. As more schools adopt the principles and practices developed through the extended school approach it becomes increasingly necessary that student teachers are prepared to...

30.06.08

Improving Group Dynamics to support learning and social inclusion (R&DA 3: 05)

This project is based on the premise that students’ motivation to learn and achieve in school can be affected by difficult interpersonal relationships in class. This situation can produce high levels of unacceptable behaviour and possibly lead to students becoming socially excluded.

30.06.08