Continuing Professional Development
To be published in 2021
get_appSummary of recommendations poster
[2 MB pdf]
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7 additional files support this report
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Effective parental engagement for pupils with SEND
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Four common SEND misconceptions
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High-quality teaching for pupils with SEND
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Plotting overlapping needs for pupils with SEND
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5 key SEND questions for school leaders to reflect on
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Case study: Billesley Primary School, Birmingham
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Case study: Churchill Free Special School, Suffolk
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Evidence Review
EEF SEND Evidence Review Published March, 2020
Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) have the greatest need for excellent teaching and are entitled to provision that supports achievement at, and enjoyment of, school. The attainment gap between pupils with SEND and their peers is twice as big as the gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers. However, pupils with SEND are also more than twice as likely to be eligible for free school meals.
This is why we’ve developed this guidance report. It offers five evidence-based recommendations to support pupils with SEND, providing a starting point for schools to review their current approach and practical ideas they can implement.
1
Create a positive and supportive environment for all pupils without exception
An inclusive school removes barriers to learning and participation, provides an education that is appropriate to pupils’ needs, and promotes high standards and the fulfilment of potential for all pupils. Schools should:
- promote positive relationships, active engagement, and wellbeing for all pupils;
- ensure all pupils can access the best possible teaching; and
- adopt a positive and proactive approach to behaviour, as described in the EEF’s Improving Behaviour in Schools guidance report.
2
Build an ongoing, holistic understanding of your pupils and their needs
Schools should aim to understand individual pupil’s learning needs using the graduated approach of the ‘assess, plan, do, review’ approach.
Assessment should be regular and purposeful rather than a one-off event, and should seek input from parents and carers as well as the pupil themselves and specialist professionals.
Teachers need to feel empowered and trusted to use the information they collect to make a decision about the next steps for teaching that child.
3
Ensure all pupils have access to high quality teaching
To a great extent, good teaching for pupils with SEND is good teaching for all.
Searching for a ‘magic bullet’ can distract teachers from the powerful strategies they often already possess.
The research suggests a group of teaching strategies that teachers should consider emphasising for pupils with SEND. Teachers should develop a repertoire of these strategies they can use flexibly in response to the needs of all pupils.
- flexible grouping;
- cognitive and metacognitive strategies;
- explicit instruction;
- using technology to support pupils with SEND; and
- scaffolding.
4
Complement high quality teaching with carefully selected small-group and one-to-one interventions
Small-group and one-to-one interventions can be a powerful tool but must be used carefully. Ineffective use of interventions can create a barrier to the inclusion of pupils with SEN.
High quality teaching should reduce the need for extra support, but it is likely that some pupils will require high quality, structured, targeted interventions to make progress.
The intensity of intervention (from universal to targeted to specialist) should increase with need.
Interventions should be carefully targeted through identification and assessment of need.
Interventions should be applied using the principles of effective implementation described in the EEF’s guidance report Putting Evidence to Work: A School’s Guide to Implementation.
5
Work effectively with teaching assistants
Effective deployment of teaching assistants (TAs) is critical. School leaders should pay careful attention to the roles of TAs and ensure they have a positive impact on pupils with SEND.
TAs should supplement, not replace, teaching from the classroom teacher.
The EEF's guidance report Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants provides detailed recommendations.
6
Design a school feedback policy that prioritises and exemplifies the principles of effective feedback
Enacting these recommendations will require careful consideration and this implementation should be a staged process, not an event. This will include ongoing effective professional development.
Schools should design feedback policies which promote and exemplify the principles of effective feedback (Recommendations 1–3). Policies should not over-specify features such as the frequency or method of feedback.
Five recommendations on special education needs in mainstream schools
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get_appSummary of recommendations poster
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