Background to the Research

• There is a strong tradition in Northern Ireland, as elsewhere in the UK, that the large majority of pupils with special educational needs should be educated in mainstream schools. This study looked at provision and practice in mainstream schools and aimed to provide DENI and ELBs on the status and form of special educational needs provision prior to the introduction to the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs.
  

Research Approach

• A postal questionnaire was sent to every mainstream school in the Province and 700 responses were received (59% response rate).
  
  
• Case-study visits were undertaken in 27 schools across the Province (by telephone in a further 4), identified by ELBs as reflecting the range of practice in their areas. Case studies took the form of interviews with principals. Special needs teachers and any other teachers closely involved in SEN provision.
  

Main Findings

• Overall, it was evident that there was no absolute notion of SEN being applied within schools.
  
  
• Over 90% of schools, but just over 60% of grammar schools, responding to the survey had a designated teacher responsible for SEN.
  
  
• Some schools had access to a wide range of external services, however the availability of these services was patchy and their quality was variable.
  
  
• Schools made use of a wide range of responses to SEN, though there was a heavy reliance on withdrawal work and (in secondary schools) special classes, with somewhat less evidence than might have been expected of in-class support or differentiation. Around 7% of schools had special units.
  
  
• Schools tended to rely heavily on the use of cut-off points on standardised tests, particularly of reading attainment, in identifying children's SEN.
  
  
• Most schools anticipated at least some difficulties in implementing the recommendations of the Code of Practice, with the production of education plans and the maintenance of the SEN register seeming particularly problematic. Secondary schools tended to perceive more problems than their primary counterparts.
  
  
• In by far the greatest number of schools there were forms of SEN provision and practice which did not currently meet the Code's requirements, but which could, in principle, be developed and adapted to do so.