A career postcode lottery? Local authority provision of youth and career support following the 2011 Education Act

Since the election of the Coalition Government, England has seen a major change in the delivery of career support for young people. Cuts in funding for Connexions, Aimhigher and Education Business Partnerships have been accompanied by a shift in statutory responsibility from local authorities (LAs) to schools. Such policy has been criticised by a wide range of stakeholders and subjected to some scrutiny. This study focuses attention on the experiences of LAs and their staff in dealing with these changes. The aim was to explore the current scale and nature of LA careers activities with a view to providing a picture of LA responses to the policy changes. The report explores several themes: the resourcing of career and youth support, the provision of universal career support, and how targeted services have been affected. It also discusses the implications of the changes on specific groups such as careers professionals and young people, and suggests ways forward.UNISO

Evaluation of the NAHT Aspire

Data collected for this second interim report through a survey, telephone interviews and site visits indicates that the NAHT Aspire Partner Schools Programme has over a short period of time demonstrated an effective approach to school improvement. Significant is that 14 schools have been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted. Schools have particularly welcomed and benefited from the adopted approach which emphasises; • Distributed leadership which empowers staff to take on a leadership role for the five strands; • Achievement Teams which build problem focused solutions, a positive climate for staff to feel valued and improved use of data within schools; • A whole school approach to school improvement through adoption and implementation of core values; • Peer support provided through Network Days and in school through Development Days; and • Staff development through training, coaching and the 2-6-2 meeting models. Survey evidence suggested that school leaders and teachers have a lot of confidence now that their school will change for the better (97% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement). Furthermore they reported that they have the right strategy and short term priorities to effect change that will impact upon teaching and pupil attainment. There was overall a high level of confidence (99%) that teaching and pupil’s learning would improve as a result of involvement in the programme. The dedicated support provided by NAHT Aspire Achievement Advisers offers a unique and valued aspect to the programme which provides localised bespoke training and consultancy to schools in the programme. Leadership capacity was identified as a concern by Ofsted in the three pilot schools that were judged to be ‘Inadequate’ and this factor was reflected in termly reviews of the schools’ success in implementing NAHT Aspire prior to the inspections. The programme is considered to provide value for money by schools, and may represent especially good value when compared with the costs of academisation. There have been a few withdrawals to date and these have been predominantly as a result of Ofsted inspections where schools have been judged ‘Good’ or have moved to ‘Special Measures’. It would be interesting to continue to monitor the outcomes of the programme over the coming years and to assess progression from ‘Good’ to ‘Outstanding.’National Association of Head Teacher

Parental relationship satisfaction in families of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) : a multilevel analysis

Couples raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face many challenges. Research so far has focused on whether these couples are more or less likely to separate or divorce compared to other couples whose children do not have ASD. While this is important, we argue that the quality of the couple relationship is equally- if not more- important to research. Systematic evidence from typical development has shown that the quality of the couple’s relationship is related to parenting and also to long-term behavioral and emotional outcomes of children. With this study, we wanted to explore whether mothers and fathers of children with ASD are satisfied with their relationship, and what individual or family-level factors are related to the couple’s relationship satisfaction levels. Our data from 146 couples suggested that mothers and fathers agree on how satisfied they are with their relationship, and that relationship satisfaction appears to be related to parents’ depressive symptoms and the behavior problems of their child with ASD. The higher the depression levels, the lower the parent reported on the dependent variable relationship satisfaction, for both mothers and fathers. Also, as behavior problems increased, relationship satisfaction decreased. Interestingly, relationship satisfaction was not related to the behavior problems of a sibling, the number of children in the household, or the socioeconomic position of families (SEP). Families include interconnected systems whereby an individual’s well-being and behavior can have an impact (positive or negative) on other family dyads such as the couple relationship

A systems approach to understanding families of children with intellectual disability and/or autism

While it is widely acknowledged that all family members have a role to play in raising a child with Intellectual Disability (ID), research in the field has focused on the wellbeing of mothers and mother-child relationships. Working within a Family Systems theoretical framework, this thesis has posed systemic questions and examined subsystems and members of the family unit, neglected in existing research, in order to develop a more holistic understanding of families of children with ID. It has also contributed large-scale survey data on families, something which is limited in the UK. In Chapter 1 a review of Family Systems Theory (FST) and existing systems-informed studies was undertaken, highlighting many unexplored avenues for research and outlining important methodological considerations. Four empirical studies then followed (Chapters 2,3,4,5). In the first study (Chapter 2) the relationship satisfaction of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was explored. Chapter 3 then presented an investigation of the psychological wellbeing of fathers of children with and without ID. Chapters 4 and 5 presented findings based on the primary data collected for the Cerebra 1000 Families study, a large-scale survey of UK families of children with ID aged 4-15 years. Chapter 4 investigated whether mothers’ perceptions of the functioning of three different family subsystems related to their overall rating of family functioning. The final study (chapter 5) then explored the psychological wellbeing of single mothers. In Chapter 6 the findings from the four empirical studies were discussed along with their implications for theory, practice and future research. Overall this thesis has contributed new knowledge in relation to the family systems of families of children with ID, and has rejected the prevailing narrative that raising a child with ID is always a negative experience

A population-based study of the behavioral and emotional adjustment of older siblings of children with and without intellectual disability

This is the first study on the behavioral and emotional adjustment of siblings of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) to use a population-based sample, from the third wave of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS); a UK longitudinal birth cohort study. We examined differences between nearest-in-age older siblings (age 5–15) of MCS children (likely mainly with mild to moderate ID) identified with ID (n = 257 siblings) or not (n = 7246 siblings). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) measured all children’s adjustment. For SDQ total problems, 13.9% of siblings of children with ID and 8.9% of siblings of children without had elevated scores (OR 1.65; 95% CI 1.04, 2.62; p = 0.031). Similar group differences were found for SDQ peer and conduct problems. In logistic regression models, variables consistently associated with older sibling adjustment were: adjustment of the MCS cohort child, older sibling being male, family socio-economic position, primary carer psychological distress, and being from a single parent household. The ID grouping variable was no longer associated with adjustment for all SDQ domains, except siblings of children with ID were less likely to be identified as hyperactive (OR 0.30; 95% CI 0.10, 0.87; p = 0.027). Some older siblings of children with ID may be at additional risk for behavioral and emotional problems. Group differences were related mainly to social and family contextual factors. Future longitudinal research should address developmental pathways by which children with ID may affect sibling adjustment

A cohort study of short-term functional outcomes following injury: the role of pre-injury socio-demographic and health characteristics, injury and injury-related healthcare

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Injury outcome studies have tended to collect limited pre-injury characteristics, focus on a narrow range of injury types, predictors and outcomes, and be restricted to high threat to life injuries. We sought to identify the role of pre-injury socio-demographic and health characteristics, injury and injury-related healthcare in determining short-term functional outcomes for a wide range of injuries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study participants (aged 18-64 years inclusive) were those in the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study, a cohort of 2856 persons who were injured and registered with New Zealand's national no-fault injury insurance agency. All information used in this paper was obtained directly from the participants, primarily by telephone interviews, approximately three months after their injury. The functional outcomes of interest were the five dimensions of the EQ-5D plus a cognitive dimension. We initially examined bivariate relationships between our independent measures and the dependent measures. Our multivariate analyses included adjustment for pre-injury EQ-5D status and time between injury and when information was obtained from participants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Substantial portions of participants continued to have adverse outcomes approximately three months after their injury. Key pervasive factors predicting adverse outcomes were: being female, prior chronic illness, injuries to multiple body regions, being hospitalized for injury, self-perceived threat to life, and difficulty accessing health services.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Future injury outcome studies should include participants whose injuries are considered 'minor', as judged by acute health service utilization, and also consider a wider range of potential predictors of adverse outcomes.</p

Service improvement by design

Invited worksho

1000 Families Study, a UK multiwave cohort investigating the well-being of families of children with intellectual disabilities : cohort profile

Purpose: The 1000 Families Study is a large, UK-based, cohort of families of children with intellectual disability (ID). The main use of the cohort data will be to describe and explore correlates of the well-being of families of children with ID, including parents and siblings, using cross-sectional and (eventually) longitudinal analyses. The present cohort profile intends to describe the achieved cohort. Participants: Over 1000 families of UK children with ID aged between 4 and 15 years 11 months (total n=1184) have been recruited. The mean age of the cohort was 9.01 years old. The cohort includes more boys (61.8%) than girls (27.0%; missing 11.1%). Parents reported that 45.5% (n=539) of the children have autism. Most respondents were a female primary caregiver (84.9%), and 78.0% were the biological mother of the cohort child with ID. The largest ethnic group for primary caregivers was White British (78.5%), over half were married and living with their partner (53.3%) and 39.3% were educated to degree level. Findings: to date Data were collected on family, parental and child well-being, as well as demographic information. Wave 1 data collection took place between November 2015 and January 2017, primarily through online questionnaires. Telephone interviews were also completed by 644 primary caregivers. Future plans: Wave 2 data collection is ongoing and the research team will continue following up these families in subsequent waves, subject to funding availability. Results will be used to inform policy and practice on family and child well-being in families of children with ID. As this cohort profile aims to describe the cohort, future publications will explore relevant research questions and report key findings related to family well-being