Parents' involvement in their children's education is known to be an important predictor of a range of adaptive outcomes. For learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), lack of parental engagement and confidence has been highlighted as a problematic issue. Given this, the objectives of the current study were to: (i) determine…

The aims of the current study were (i) to explore the extent to which pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) were effectively included in lessons, compared with pupils with dyslexia (DYS) or no Special Educational Needs (CON) and (ii) to understand how the presence of a teaching assistant (TA) influences the inclusion/exclusion process. One…

The processes around the identification of special educational needs (SEN) should mean that those pupils who need most help receive it. However, there are concerns that this process is not working and there is an over-identification of pupils with SEN. Previous international research has shown that summer-born children are more likely to be…

In line with current educational policy on inclusive education, the number of pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) attending mainstream schools is increasing. However, concerns remain about their experiences in school. In particular, previous research has suggested that such pupils are at an increased risk of social exclusion. In light of…

This article draws on data gathered in a two-year English government-funded follow-up study of secondary school children who were permanently excluded from school and who did not return to mainstream settings. It reflects on recent debates concerning different forms of social exclusion and considers what forms of service provision might prevent…

Investigations of the post-16 outcomes for young people with a specific language impairment (SLI) are limited in scope. The current study extends our understanding of the young people's outcomes by examining the academic, employment and social outcomes of a cohort of pupils who attended a residential special school in the south east of England for…

The paper outlines the findings from a literature review of the English government's response to the issue of training pre-service teachers in the delivery of effective special educational needs support. The review's findings detail that although educational practice in mainstream classrooms has changed considerably since the 1970s the training of…

This study considers the reasons why so few male student teachers are entering the special education sector. This comes as recent statistics reveal that the percentage of male teaching staff in special education in Northern Ireland is much lower than in England. The article first critically considers the international literature on male students'…

Across the world countries are advocating the education of children and young people with disabilities in mainstream schools. There is also increasing interest in developing effective coordination of the specialist services pupils with disabilities receive from different agencies. This is accompanied by growing recognition that such care…

This paper reports findings about placement questions relevant to disability in education. It is part of a larger international study of the perspectives of 132 education practitioners and administrators in England, the USA and The Netherlands to several dilemmas of difference. Participants were interviewed about their perspectives to a presented…

Enabling pupils with special educational needs to participate more fully in the assessment, planning and evaluation of their own learning has become a principle enshrined within the legislation of many countries in recent years. Educational policy in both England and the Republic of Ireland has recognised the desirability of increased pupil…

This paper considers the key findings of a DfES-funded study that explored the relationship between achievement and inclusion in mainstream schools in England. The methodology involved a statistical analysis of nationally held data on all pupils at the end of key stages 1-4, together with a series of site visits to "inclusive" mainstream…

In recent years, there has been an increased recognition of the importance of parenting and the way in which parenting programmes can be an effective intervention in changing behaviour and parent-child interactions. The aim of this research, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, was to provide a map of parenting programme provision in…

Severely inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive children fall behind their peers and can be difficult for teachers. What impact do screening and/or advice have? Interventions were randomly assigned to 2040 schools and 24 local education authorities in England. School-level interventions involved naming pupils with ADHD-like behaviour, or providing…

There are now higher than ever numbers of children in public care in the developed world and increasing concerns across Europe to examine the differences in policies and practices and their impact on childrens lives. The small-scale research reported in this paper was commissioned by an agency in the UK concerned with addressing the challenge of…