Towards inclusion? Models of behaviour support in secondary schools in one education authority in Scotland

This article draws on data emerging from an evaluation of behaviour support strategies in secondary schools in an education authority in Scotland. The authors all work at the University of Glasgow. Jean Kane has research and teaching interests in the area of special educational needs; she offers consultancy to local authorities in the development of inclusive policies and practices in schools. Dr George Head has research and teaching interests in the area of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and social inclusion; he is also an experienced teacher. Both Jean Kane and George Head are lecturers in the Faculty of Education. Nicola Cogan is a researcher at the Strathclyde Centre for Disability Research and has a background as a research psychologist in the health sector. In Scotland, the growth of behaviour support provision is closely related to broader policy on social inclusion. It is argued in this article that new models of behaviour support can be developed in the light of previous and related experience in the development of inclusive support systems in schools. The authors present a typology of behaviour support, drawing upon their evaluation of provision, and discuss the characteristics of the types of support that emerge. Using data from exclusion statistics, pupil case studies and interviews with teachers, managers, pupils and parents, Jean Kane, George Head and Nicola Cogan explore the implications of their work for future developments in support for pupils who present difficult behaviours

Evaluation of the Assessment is for Learning programme

The Assessment is for Learning Development Programme (AifL) was designed tobring together the various purposes of assessment into a single coherent frameworkwhich would answer questions of accountability, standards and the monitoring ofprogress and performance, but which also emphasised the role of assessment insupporting individual pupils' learning in the classroom

Evaluation of the flexible learning in the community (FLIC) project

The Flexible Learning in the Community project (FLiC) was set up by the City of Edinburgh to take advantage of the potential of the City's information and technology network to support flexible learning and teaching within and across its schools, colleges and community learning centres. An evaluation of the project was commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department, which had provided some funding for FLiC, through the Future Learning and Teaching (FLaT) programme. The evaluation was carried out during 2003-04 by a team from the Quality in Education Centre, the University of Strathclyde. The FLiC project had three main strands: video-conferencing, multi-media presentations (Kar2ouche1) and a virtual learning environment (digitalbrain2). Support and training for both teachers and pupils were provided by the Information Technology Support Team (ITSU) alongside a considerable investment in hardware, software and networking. Following a year of pilot work the initiative was launched by the Minister for Children and Young People in March 2003

Evaluation of the North Lanarkshire curriculum flexibility project

This report highlights some of the very good practice about effective use of flexibility in the curriculum that is emerging. It describes how staff have engaged in innovative use of time in ways which have given pupils increased motivation to learn and encouraged them to become more independent learners and more effective collaborative workers. The important role of school managers in monitoring the impact of innovations in the curriculum is exemplified. This report also acts as a call to action for schools which still often adhere too rigidly to inflexible programmes of study. There remains a need for more imaginative leadership and further professional development of staff at all levels to ensure that full and appropriate use of the opportunities offered by Curriculum for Excellence are realised

S3 Pupils' Career Aspirations and Views on Language Learning

In May 2005, the Scottish Centre for Language Teaching and Research (SCILT) undertook a government-funded nationwide survey of approximately 1500 pupils in the S3 cohort of Scottish secondary schools. Pupils in 47 randomly selected Scottish secondary schools completed a questionnaire that explored their career aspirations and how these related to their views on language learning. The responses of S3 pupils are significant because the government's educational policy A Curriculum for Excellence is proposing to give pupils in this year group the opportunity to have a greater say in their subject choices. The findings provide useful indicators for government officials, head teachers, careers advisers and language teachers in Scottish secondary schools

Evaluation of articulate project

The Articulate Project was commissioned by West Dunbartonshire Council, with funding from the Scottish Executive’s Future Learning and Teaching (FLaT) programme,The Scottish Arts Council, West Dunbartonshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Partnership. Activities relating to the project took place between May and December 2004. The overall aim of the Articulate Project was to “explore how or if the arts, and specifically drama and theatre practice, might impact positively on English language skills in the classroom” (AELP, 2005, p5). The five specific aims of the Articulate Project were to: · develop the creative and imaginative writing skills of participating pupils · improve the ability of pupils to communicate effectively · raise levels of pupils’ self esteem and self worth · increase pupils’ motivation to participate in, and enjoy, learning · create a positive impact on thinking skills, problem solving and team working on individuals, schools and the community. The Traverse Theatre devised a programme of pupil activities with the help of a teacher in one of the participating primary schools. In the initial stage, all participating pupils (in each class from each of five schools) were introduced to drama techniques by a Traverse Theatre actress and they attended two theatre performances. In the next stage the focus shifted to creative writing, and a group of ten pupils from each class worked directly in 10 workshops with a Traverse Theatre playwright, in order to develop their own drama sketches, which were performed by professional actors in Denny Civic Theatre. At the same time, the remainder of each class engaged in similar creative writing lessons with their teacher. Although this second Articulate group did not have their work performed, they supported the Denny Civic Theatre production by producing art work with the help of a professional artist. There were three main phases in the evaluation, which began five months after the projectended. A first phase (June and July 2005) was designed to build up a picture of the Project through extended interviews with its key architects and through document analysis. In a second phase (August – October 2005), impact on pupils was explored through theirresponses to Articulate-specific questionnaires and to two standardised instruments (the Marsh Self Description Questionnaire and the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking - ‘Thinking Creatively with Words’), as well as through their focus group contributions. This second phase included evaluation of the project’s impact on staff through one-to-one interviews with school staff and analysis of an extended interview with the Traverse Theatre Literary Development Officer. A third phase (November 2005 – January 2006) was concerned mainly with data analysis, including pre- and post-project attainment level data for reading and writing, but also provided an opportunity for parents and a local community organisation to express views on the project. During this phase final discussions also took place with a primary Head Teacher and the Depute Head in the secondary school

Gaelic Learners in the Primary School (GLPS) in Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Perth & Kinross and Stirling : Evaluation Report

For many years individual primary school teachers have no doubt sought to provide their pupils with a brief initial introduction to Gaelic language and culture. However, as a planned, systematic policy development across schools, backed by local authority and national support, GLPS (Gaelic learners in the primary school) has only come into being in the past three years. Thus far it has been taken up in a small number of local authorities, including the five which have commissioned the present evaluation (Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Perth & Kinross, Stirling), but it is attracting interest in a number of others

Evaluation of the Scottish Borders Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) programme

In the light of decades of worldwide research that implies that the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) programme has potential to enhance learning and attainment (Romney and Samuels, 2001) a pilot programme was launched in Scottish Borders Council schools in September 2005. Since the programme includes activities to help pupils to control impulsive behaviour, most pupils selected for the programme had a history of underachieving due to social, emotional or behavioural problems. The FIE programme is described in Section 1. There are two strands to the pilot project: one is equipping teachers to deliver the FIE programme to the most vulnerable pupils, the other is the adoption of the Feuerstein approach to mediating learning across schools. While the first strand is very resource intensive, the second strand can operate with more modest investment. In 2005-2006, 32 primary and secondary teachers, including members of school Senior Management Teams, volunteered for the Feuerstein accredited training and began to deliver the FIE programme with the selected pupils for around 80 minutes per week. Scottish Borders Newly Qualified Teachers (probationers) also participated for three days in the area of the Feuerstein training that deals specifically with mediated learning. Since there is extensive research evidence that the quality of the teacher’s mediation is a major influence on learning, early career training in mediation was thought likely to yield long-term dividends. This evaluation is one of many of FIE programmes. The Scottish Borders programme is a pilot project that had been operational for around six months (excluding school holiday weeks) when the evaluation began. Typically, published evaluations are of FIE programmes that have been running for at least two years and often these programmes provided more lessons than in the Borders pilot project