An investigation of the work of
an outreach service with
mainstream schools supporting
children with complex needs
Dr Louise Tuersley-Dixon
Wigan Educational Psychology Service
Session Objectives
• To present selected key findings of an
evaluation of the work of an outreach service
with mainstream schools supporting children
with complex needs.
• To outline how evidence-based evaluation has
informed local practice.
DEFINITIONS
Outreach Support Service
• Outreach support can be defined as:
‘..any work undertaken by specialist providers to support their
mainstream colleagues in successfully meeting the needs of pupils
with SEN’ (Newport, 2004, pg. 3).
Complex Needs
• Complex needs can be defined as having 2 dimensions: in particular
a depth of need (severe, intense or profound) and also breadth of
need (having more than one need) (Rankin and Regan, 2004).
•
Children with complex needs are individuals who meet the criteria
for statutory and specialist services and those who require
integrated support from such services (DCSF, 2007).
Rationale for Evaluation
• Accountability: Need to evaluate if the outreach service
is meeting the needs of children with CN.
• Social inclusion is a primary reason for families choosing
mainstream schools (Koster, Pijl, Van Houten & Nakken,
2007a).
• Social inclusion is a primary reason for families
choosing mainstream schools (Koster, Pijl, Van
Houten & Nakken, 2007a). Anticipated benefits in: Child
development (Male, 2002), social functioning (Wiener &
Tardif, 2004), societal attitudes towards disability (Sloper
& Tyler, 1992; UNESCO, 1994).
• Gap in the research literature
Evaluating an Outreach Service
What is the nature of outreach support for children
with complex needs?
Pupil Outcomes: How successful is the social
inclusion of pupils with complex needs in mainstream
schools in Wigan?
Hypothesis Testing:
‘The more visible the disability the more socially
accepted an individual’.
Social Inclusion Defined
Abbot & McConkey(2006)
Cullinan, Sabornie & Crossland (1992),
Koster Nakken, Pijl & Van Houten (2007b).
PEER ACCEPTANCE
RELATIONSHIPS/
FRIENDSHIPS
CONTACT
METHOD AND DESIGN
PARTICIPANTS
MEASURES
•20 primary aged children
with complex needs
•528 of their mainstream
classmates.
•26 parents of the children
with complex needs.
•28 mainstream teaching staff
•15 outreach teachers from
one special school.
DESIGN
•Correlational
•Multi-method (qualitative and
quantitative analyses).
RQ1: What is the nature of outreach support for children
with complex needs?
.
•Framework analysis enables conversion of qualitative information into
numerical data that can be used quantitatively (Hayes, 2000; Pope,
Ziebland & Mays, 2000).
The Five Stages of Framework Analysis (Pope et al., 2000)
Stage 1: Familiarization
Stage 2: Identifying a thematic framework
Stage 3: Indexing
Stage 4: Charting
Stage 5: Mapping and interpretation
RESULTS
RQ1: What is the nature of outreach support in
Wigan for children with complex needs?
OUTREACH SERVICE DELIVERY
SOCIAL
INCLUSION
6%
26% DEVELOPMENTAL
DAILY
LIVING
SKILLS
10%
ATTAINMENT 58%
RQ2: How successful is the social inclusion of
children with Complex Needs?
PARTICIPANTS
PEER
SOCIOMETRIC
STATUS
Typical Peers
Children with
Complex Needs
N
%
N
%
Popular
123
23.7%
10
50.0%
Average
270
51.9%
7
35.0%
Controversial
1
.2%
0
0%
Neglected
7
1.3%
0
0%
22.9%
3
15%
Rejected
119
SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE
Hypothesis: The more visible the disability the
greater the social acceptance.
CATEGORY OF VISIBILITY OF DISABILITY
Attribution Theory
‘…..the rules most people use in attempting to infer the causes of the
behaviour they observe’ (Aronson, p.295, 1992).
•Attribution of Intention Attribution of intention involves considering
how much ability a person has and how much they understand the
consequence of their actions (Jones & Davis, 1965).
INFERRED
OBSERVED
Knowledge
Disposition
Intention
Effect 1
Action
Ability
Effect 2
Effect n
Figure 1: The Action-Attribute Paradigm (Jones & Davis, 1965, p.222).
How evidence-based evaluation has
informed practice in Wigan
FURTHER DEVELOPED
OUTREACH TEAM’S
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
(Evidence-based Social Inclusion
Interventions, highlighted possible needs of
children with less visible disabilities,
emphasized broad Curriculum).
SHAPED OUTREACH POLICY
STRATEGIC IMPACT:
(Justified Outreach, Unified
outreach, outreach remit widened)
IMPROVED ACCOUNTABILITY
Session Objectives
• To present selected key findings of an
evaluation of the work of an outreach service
with mainstream schools supporting children
with complex needs.
• To outline how evidence-based evaluation has
informed local practice.