Go-ahead for special education needs study
- Published: 01 December 2008
Source : Irish Examiner
Go-ahead for special education needs study
By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent
THE first major research on how special education needs are catered for in Irish schools is to be undertaken from next year.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will focus on the views of pupils and parents in the three-year study for which it has just sought tenders, with the hope that participating schools and families will be identified before schools close next summer.
The council took over responsibility in 2005 for the assessment and allocation of resources for children with low incidence special educational needs (SENs), including autism, Down Syndrome, visual and hearing impairments, emotional and behavioural difficulties, physical disabilities and other conditions for which extra supports might be needed.
NCSE head of research, Jennifer Doran, said while the council has been most concerned so far with getting children into schools and making sure they have the appropriate teaching and other resources, no detailed work has been done to examine the impact of those resources on their education.
"The idea is to track a number of students over three years and hopefully the findings will inform future policy and practice around special needs education," she said. "That could include everything from teacher training to curriculum development, so it's important that children's and parents' voices are heard in this research."
The NCSE has allocated resources for around 35,000 children, not including pupils with general learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia, who are catered for under a model providing each primary school with a certain number of resource teachers, depending on total enrolment.
The research will examine the way school policies and practices impact on children's educational experiences, how the curriculum is delivered to those with special educational needs, the way in which resources and support services are used by schools, and the application of individual education plans for the students.
