Finnish reform of the funding and provision of special education : the views of principals and municipal education administrators

Peer reviewe

Erityisopetuksen järjestämisen muutokset kunnissa 2000-luvulla

Peer reviewe

The meaningfulness of two curriculum-based national tests of English as a foreign language

Peer reviewe

The 21st Century Reforms (Re)Shaping the Education Policy of Inclusive and Special Education in Finland

In recent decades, an essential global aim of the reforms of special education has been the promotion of inclusive education. This article discusses the implementation of reforms with a focus on tiered support systems in the context of Finnish comprehensive school education. Based on earlier literature, legislation, and administrative documents, we provide a background for Finnish education policy and special education reforms. The focus of this article is on the description of parallel reforms targeting the re-structuring of the systems around support for students and funding of education in the 2010s. We discuss the processes leading to these reforms and the reforms themselves. In addition, we discuss their implications for the organization of the tiered support system. Finally, we highlight some challenges of reform implementation and the current education policy’s movements towards inclusive education

The meaningfulness of two curriculum-based national tests of English as a foreign language

Peer reviewe

Principals’ views on changes in the provision of support for learning and schooling in Finland after educational reform

Recently, the large-scale reforms of special education have been carried out in many countries. This study focuses on the latest Finnish reform of special education in compulsory education. As principals lead educational reforms in schools, their role in the implementation of reform is significant. The study explores principals’ views on the changes in support arrangements after the educational reform. We used latent class analysis to identify the subgroups of principals who share similar views. In addition, we examined the relationship between the subgroups and individual, school, and municipal level factors using multinomial logistic regression analysis. Four subgroups were identified: improved pedagogical support (19% of principals), stability of support (54%), increased administrative support (14%), and weakened support (13%). Work experience as a principal, school size, schools’ resources for special education, and region differentiated these subgroups from one another. Despite nationwide reform, the support arrangements and their changes differed among schools in the opinion of principals. We discuss the implications for the planning and implementation of the educational reforms.Peer reviewe

How do educational reforms change the share of students in special education? Trends in special education in Finland

Recent European and global trends in education have been to promote inclusive education and expand education, resulting in the increased provision of special education. In promoting inclusive education, recent special education reforms have also aimed to curtail the rise in identification rates for students in special education, for example, by focusing more on early support and discontinuing fiscal incentives to identify students with special educational needs. Using official special education statistics, we studied how Finland's special education system reforms changed the share of students in special education. In addition, we examined variations in special education provisions among municipalities before and after the reforms, and identified municipal-level predictors of variations. This study utilised piecewise linear latent growth curve modelling to analyse changes, thereby providing an example of how this method can be applied in policy reform studies. The results indicated, in particular, that the funding reform has incentivised municipalities to decrease identification rates for students in special education and to diminish special education provision. However, different municipalities have different special education provisions and have changed these provisions in varied ways. In particular, we found that small and large municipalities differ in special education practices and reform implementation.Peer reviewe

Oppimisen ja koulunkäynnin tuki tilastojen valossa : Tuen tarjonta luokka-asteittain, ikäryhmittäin ja sukupuolen mukaan vuosina 2011–2018

Non peer reviewe

The Work of Special Education Teachers in the Tiered Support System: The Finnish Case

This study investigated primary school special education teachers’ (SETs’) (N = 283) conceptions on their work descriptions and uses of pedagogical documents after a reform in the national support framework. The respondents of this survey reported working mostly in Tiers 1 and 2 when all their tasks (instruction, consultation, and managerial tasks) were considered. The responsibilities of the SETs were, however, more clearly defined in Tier 3. The SETs allocate their work autonomously, but their work description is related to their workload. Clarifications in work descriptions and further elaboration of school’s tiered support functions, emphasizing collaborative practices, are suggested.</p