Driver Category 3.4
Lack of good quality education provision for individuals with special educational needs or disabilities
This driver category relates to children with disabilities and learning difficulties (and other vulnerable children) who need special protection and support to flourish within the education system.
Guiding Questions
General questions
- Is the right to inclusive education well established in national laws and are implementation measures in place?
- Is there information available assessing the government’s progress in implementing its policies and commitments in this area (e.g. coverage and accessibility of infrastructure, appropriate teaching methods and teacher training, specialised support services) etc.?
- What efforts are made in your country to identify children with special educational needs and disabilities?
- Do diagnostic services and registries exist to assess developmental delays and identify children who need to receive special support with early childhood development and education services?
- How early is the assessment conducted?
- What tracking and follow-up systems are in place to ensure that children identified through screening subsequently receive assessments and appropriate services?
- Is specialist training available for teachers and support staff working with children with special educational needs and disabilities?
- Do teacher-training institutions provide appropriate pre-service and in-service training for all teachers about the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities?
- Do special schools exist for children with more complex special educational needs and severe disabilities?
- How many children with special needs education and disabilities attend mainstream schools vs. special schools and how is this changing?
- Is the level of investment in special schools’ infrastructure sufficient?
- Are the pupil-teacher ratios for special schools adequate?
- Is there sufficient access to nursing (or other health) staff in these facilities?
Public budget
- Are inclusive education strategies and measures appropriately funded?
- What is the level of public expenditure in relation to special educational needs education - in absolute terms, and as a share of the education budget?
- What is the level of expenditure on special educational needs and disabilities at different levels (nursery/pre-primary, primary, secondary, tertiary) within mainstream schools and on special schools?
Equitable access, quality and educational outcomes
- What is the state of debate about special educational needs and disabilities within the education sector?
- Is there equitable access to screening and assessment services for all families?
- What information is available about the use of private assessments for diagnosis of a special educational need or disability?
- How much are private services used and what are the costs to parents?
- How do the public and private services available compare in terms of timeliness and the quality of support provided?
- Is there a link between assessment of special educational needs and the allocation of resources?
- Is the existence of special educational needs and disabilities taken into account in the model used for resource allocation to schools?
- Have the impacts of the model in use for resource allocation been properly evaluated?
- Are differentiation strategies used in mainstream classes to support children with special educational needs?
- Are teachers appropriately trained in the use of differentiation strategies?
- Is school performance - with regard to the educational outcomes of children with special educational needs - appropriately and separately assessed?
- Are outcomes for students with special educational needs and disabilities such as engagement, social development, happiness and independence assessed alongside attainment?
- Is there data available to compare educational outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities between private and public facilities?
Indicators
Potential indicators to monitor the drivers of inequalities in this main driver category
- Number of children with special educational needs and disabilities attending mainstream schools and attending special schools (per level)
- Number of children with special education needs and disabilities enrolled in further education
- % of education budget spent on meeting special educational needs
- Amount of education spending per student in special schools (national and per region)
- Ratio of (qualified) teachers to students in special schools (nationally and per region; per level; and in public and private systems)
- % of teachers (per level) who are participating in continuous professional development in relation to teaching children with special educational needs
- % of assessments for diagnosis purposes that are conducted publicly vs privately
Candidate Policies
To see related Candidate Policies in this main driver category please click here.