Children with disabilities and complex medical and educational needs present a special challenge for policy makers and practitioners. These children exhibit tremendous heterogeneity in their conditions and needs, requiring a varied array of services to meet those needs. Uneven public and professional awareness of their conditions and a research base marked by significant gaps have led to programs, practices, and policies that are inconsistent in quality and coverage. Parents often have to navigate and coordinate, largely on their own, a variety of social, medical, and educational support services, adding to the already daunting financial, logistical, and emotional challenges of raising children with special needs. The unmet needs of children with disabilities and complex medical and educational needs can cause great suffering for these children and for those who love and care for them. To examine how systems can be configured to meet the needs of children and families as they struggle with disabilities and complex health and educational needs, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop in December 2015. The goal of the workshop was to highlight the main barriers and promising solutions for improving care and outcome of children with complex medical and educational needs. Workshop participants examined prevention, care, service coordination, and other topics relevant to children with disabilities and complex health and educational needs, along with their families and caregivers. More broadly, the workshop seeks actionable understanding on key research questions for enhancing the evidence base; promoting and sustaining the quality, accessibility, and use of relevant programs and services; and informing relevant policy development and implementation. By engaging in dialogue to connect the prevention, treatment, and implementation sciences with settings where children are seen and cared for, the forum seeks to improve the lives of children by improving the systems that affect those children and their families. This publications summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
Confronting Obstacles to Inclusion uniquely and comprehensively addresses interpretations of inclusive education by drawing upon the experiences and expertise of leading writers and academics who have direct experience of teaching and researching this area around the world. This landmark publication combines theoretical chapters with practical material demonstrating how the theories can be put in to action in the classroom. The contributors, who all have regular contact with pupils and teachers in inclusive settings, provide a broad spectrum of ideas, examine a number of key themes and interpret these in an international context, such as: the causes of exclusion, the obstacles to inclusion and how these can be overcome supporting families how we can learn from students professional development enhancing teaching and learning support in the classroom. This authoritative text will be of immense interest and use to practitioners, policy-makers, researchers and campaigners who are working towards a more equitable and inclusive society. Through a synthesis of theory and practice the book offers readers an opportunity to explore local, national and international perspectives and raises questions with regards to our current understanding of inclusion. Whilst the interrogation of the concept of inclusion is, in itself important, the book provides examples of professional approaches to the key questions which are currently challenging the education of a diverse range of learners.
This report shows that, where comparable data is available, course outcomes for young people aged 16-25 receiving special educational support are improving at similar or better rates than those for all students within this age group. This performance has been achieved while known average special education funding per head has decreased in schools and further education colleges. However, parents, students and local authorities do not always have the information they need to choose the school or college that best meets the young person's needs given the available funding. Assessments of young people's needs vary in quality, and local authorities do not always consider the full costs to the public purse of different placement options. There is insufficient knowledge about total cost of provision. In addition, there are wide variations between local areas in the percentages of young people studying in different provider types (such as schools and colleges), and in the availability and use of specialist provision. The Department, in its 2011 Green Paper, has proposed significant changes to special education from birth to the age of 25. The NAO report suggests that providing appropriate support for young people with special needs has the potential to deliver longer-term benefits for students and to the public purse. The Department should address current limitations in information, and better understand the relationships between needs, costs and outcomes so that it can secure value for money from its expenditure in this area.
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