The Preventing School Failure (PSF) project examines the evidence to suggest that inclusive educa... more The Preventing School Failure (PSF) project examines the evidence to suggest that inclusive education policies have the potential to prevent school failure – both in relation to individuals and the overall system. The project focuses on desk research, which incorporates two parallel strands. The first strand reviews and analyses European and international research literature on preventing school failure. The second strand focuses on existing national policy measures for preventing school failure. This review of the literature is the result of the first strand of project activities. It gives an overview of European and international research on the prevention of school failure in relation to inclusive education. It aims to identify ways that inclusive education can prevent school failure. The review identifies key concepts and themes underpinning policy and practice for preventing school failure. Its findings inform and complement the second strand of the project and the development of the project synthesis report. Download the literature review below in English.
Early School Leaving (ESL) or dropout has often been portrayed as an outcome and therefore someth... more Early School Leaving (ESL) or dropout has often been portrayed as an outcome and therefore something that only secondary school teachers need to think about. However, much of the literature suggests that this view is unhelpful and that Early School Leaving is the result of processes that run throughout childhood. This means that everybody involved in education and childhood development needs to consider how these processes operate. This paper presents an overview of the literature and uses Bronfenbrenner's ideas from the ecosystemic model and Lewin's concept of Force Field Analysis to present a model that can be used as a way of thinking about how to remove barriers to learning or to enhance successful inclusive teaching. The model points to important steps that can be taken to prevent ESL, to intervene to reduce ESL, and steps that can be taken by countries to educationally compensate those for whom ESL has occurred. The model is not prescriptive but adaptive to local context and circumstances and as such provides a thinking tool to promote inclusive thinking. The adaptive nature of the model helps to overcome the challenge of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) being defined differently in different countries and often interpreted differently within the same country.
This addendum report should be read in conjunction to the main report of this project, Achievemen... more This addendum report should be read in conjunction to the main report of this project, Achievement for All: Evaluation Report (Humphrey et al., 2020). The main report presented the findings relating to the first cohort of 6,338 pupils who were in Year 5 at the start of the 2016/2017 academic year. A randomised controlled trial was used to compare outcomes in reading, maths, resilience-related outcomes, and attendance among pupils in 66 schools who received Achievement for All (AfA) with those who attended 68 schools who continued with business as usual. The main report also presents the implementation and process evaluation that was undertaken during the trial. In brief, for the Year 5 cohort, we found that AfA led to a two-month reduction in reading progress at both the wholegroup and subgroup levels-AfA target children and those eligible for free school meals ('FSM children'). ('AfA target children' are defined as those identified as 'vulnerable to underachievement'.) All children and FSM children in the Achievement for All schools made two months less progress in maths, on average, compared to equivalent children in schools that did not receive the programme, while AfA target children made three months less progress in maths, on average, compared to target children in control schools. However, children in AfA schools were more likely to report that there was an adult in their school who cared about them and supported them. This addendum report focuses on the above-noted outcomes for 6,586 pupils who were in Year 4 at the start of the 2016/2017 academic year. This second cohort of pupils were exposed to AfA for the full six terms (two school years) recommended by the developer; this contrasts with the five terms of intervention exposure experienced by the first cohort in the main report. In both the main and addendum report, subgroup moderator analysis was undertaken for the vulnerable 'AfA target' group of pupils identified by the schools involved in the project in addition to the standard subgroup analysis pertaining to FSM children. The main report can be accessed here. The project The intervention in brief Achievement for All is a whole-school development programme that was developed from a national pilot funded by the Department for Education just over ten years ago. It aims to improve pupil academic outcomes such as reading and mathematics as well as resilience-related outcomes such as goals and aspirations and attendance. Schools are supported by a coach from the charity AfA 3As (Aspiration, Access, and Achievement) who works with them to develop leadership and governance, teaching and learning, parent and carer engagement, and wider outcomes and opportunities. The intervention is very flexible and driven by a needs analysis of the school that leads to an action plan to be implemented over a period of two years. Part of the needs analysis involves identifying a target group of pupils with an aim to address the academic achievement gap between the lowest 20% of children and their peers. Impacts measured by the addendum In this addendum report we consider the second cohort of pupils who were in Year 4 at the start of the 2016/2017 academic year and received the full two-year intervention (six terms). The findings are reported for reading-the primary outcome-and for secondary outcomes relating to maths, 'resilience' (self-esteem, goals and aspirations, family connection, and school connection), and attendance. Attainment and attendance data was obtained from the National
The Preventing School Failure (PSF) project examines the evidence to suggest that inclusive educa... more The Preventing School Failure (PSF) project examines the evidence to suggest that inclusive education policies have the potential to prevent school failure – both in relation to individuals and the overall system. The project focuses on desk research, which incorporates two parallel strands. The first strand reviews and analyses European and international research literature on preventing school failure. The second strand focuses on existing national policy measures for preventing school failure. This review of the literature is the result of the first strand of project activities. It gives an overview of European and international research on the prevention of school failure in relation to inclusive education. It aims to identify ways that inclusive education can prevent school failure. The review identifies key concepts and themes underpinning policy and practice for preventing school failure. Its findings inform and complement the second strand of the project and the development of the project synthesis report. Download the literature review below in English.
Early School Leaving (ESL) or dropout has often been portrayed as an outcome and therefore someth... more Early School Leaving (ESL) or dropout has often been portrayed as an outcome and therefore something that only secondary school teachers need to think about. However, much of the literature suggests that this view is unhelpful and that Early School Leaving is the result of processes that run throughout childhood. This means that everybody involved in education and childhood development needs to consider how these processes operate. This paper presents an overview of the literature and uses Bronfenbrenner's ideas from the ecosystemic model and Lewin's concept of Force Field Analysis to present a model that can be used as a way of thinking about how to remove barriers to learning or to enhance successful inclusive teaching. The model points to important steps that can be taken to prevent ESL, to intervene to reduce ESL, and steps that can be taken by countries to educationally compensate those for whom ESL has occurred. The model is not prescriptive but adaptive to local context and circumstances and as such provides a thinking tool to promote inclusive thinking. The adaptive nature of the model helps to overcome the challenge of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) being defined differently in different countries and often interpreted differently within the same country.
This addendum report should be read in conjunction to the main report of this project, Achievemen... more This addendum report should be read in conjunction to the main report of this project, Achievement for All: Evaluation Report (Humphrey et al., 2020). The main report presented the findings relating to the first cohort of 6,338 pupils who were in Year 5 at the start of the 2016/2017 academic year. A randomised controlled trial was used to compare outcomes in reading, maths, resilience-related outcomes, and attendance among pupils in 66 schools who received Achievement for All (AfA) with those who attended 68 schools who continued with business as usual. The main report also presents the implementation and process evaluation that was undertaken during the trial. In brief, for the Year 5 cohort, we found that AfA led to a two-month reduction in reading progress at both the wholegroup and subgroup levels-AfA target children and those eligible for free school meals ('FSM children'). ('AfA target children' are defined as those identified as 'vulnerable to underachievement'.) All children and FSM children in the Achievement for All schools made two months less progress in maths, on average, compared to equivalent children in schools that did not receive the programme, while AfA target children made three months less progress in maths, on average, compared to target children in control schools. However, children in AfA schools were more likely to report that there was an adult in their school who cared about them and supported them. This addendum report focuses on the above-noted outcomes for 6,586 pupils who were in Year 4 at the start of the 2016/2017 academic year. This second cohort of pupils were exposed to AfA for the full six terms (two school years) recommended by the developer; this contrasts with the five terms of intervention exposure experienced by the first cohort in the main report. In both the main and addendum report, subgroup moderator analysis was undertaken for the vulnerable 'AfA target' group of pupils identified by the schools involved in the project in addition to the standard subgroup analysis pertaining to FSM children. The main report can be accessed here. The project The intervention in brief Achievement for All is a whole-school development programme that was developed from a national pilot funded by the Department for Education just over ten years ago. It aims to improve pupil academic outcomes such as reading and mathematics as well as resilience-related outcomes such as goals and aspirations and attendance. Schools are supported by a coach from the charity AfA 3As (Aspiration, Access, and Achievement) who works with them to develop leadership and governance, teaching and learning, parent and carer engagement, and wider outcomes and opportunities. The intervention is very flexible and driven by a needs analysis of the school that leads to an action plan to be implemented over a period of two years. Part of the needs analysis involves identifying a target group of pupils with an aim to address the academic achievement gap between the lowest 20% of children and their peers. Impacts measured by the addendum In this addendum report we consider the second cohort of pupils who were in Year 4 at the start of the 2016/2017 academic year and received the full two-year intervention (six terms). The findings are reported for reading-the primary outcome-and for secondary outcomes relating to maths, 'resilience' (self-esteem, goals and aspirations, family connection, and school connection), and attendance. Attainment and attendance data was obtained from the National
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Papers by Garry Squires