Count us in: Achieving success for deaf pupils has been produced jointly by HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS). The aim of the publication is to report on the quality of education currently experienced by deaf1 children in Scottish schools, to provide examples of good practice and to identify signposts for improvement which schools can use when planning for excellence.
The guide is for:
Education for deaf pupils is constantly developing and is subject to internal and external pressures for change. Some of the main issues currently affecting the education of deaf pupils are:
The national survey, The Achievements of Deaf Pupils in Scotland has tracked the progress of deaf pupils over four years. The last survey of 5-14 national assessments in 2004 showed that the percentage of P7 deaf pupils in primary schools who had achieved in line with national expectations in mathematics, reading and writing was approximately half that of the pupil population as a whole.4
Recent legislation has led to developments in the provision of education for deaf pupils. The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000 places duties upon local authorities to ensure that education is directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of children to their fullest potential, and also to raise educational standards. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (ASL Act) requires education authorities to:
The Act entitles deaf pupils to have their needs identified and met, and to have arrangements for support reviewed regularly. Some deaf pupils may not require high levels of support but still require to have their progress monitored. For others, careful planning and support will be needed to enable them to achieve the desired outcomes. A significant number of deaf pupils also have other additional learning needs which need careful assessment.
Other relevant legislation includes the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 which makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled children in education in terms of admissions, exclusions and education and associated services, and the Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils’ Educational Records) (Scotland) Act 2002, which requires those responsible for schools to prepare and implement plans to ensure access to all aspects of education for pupils with disabilities. This would include deaf pupils.
These significant developments give education authorities new challenges to face, for which they need to develop new ways of working. Count us in: Achieving success for deaf pupils contributes to the debate about the most effective ways of educating deaf pupils by sharing with practitioners information about, and evaluations of, the range of approaches being developed across the country.
Count us in: Achieving success for deaf pupils is in two parts as follows:
Self-evaluation and improvement in deaf education
Over the years, staff in schools5 and services for deaf pupils have had access to a number of sources of support to help them evaluate the quality of their work. In addition to How good is our school?6 they have received support from individual education authorities. The publication Self-Evaluation by Peripatetic Sensory Services (2001) provided advice on self-evaluation for visiting teachers and the schools with which they worked. Staff who provide services for deaf pupils have also contributed to self-evaluation in the schools in which they work. These self-evaluation and development activities have resulted in improvements in the services provided to deaf children.
In 2006, HMIE published two key reports which signalled a change of focus in approaches to self-evaluation and improvement in Scotland. These reports were directed specifically at achieving excellence and ensuring success for all learners. The national report, Improving Scottish Education,7 identified strengths and areas for development across all sectors of education in Scotland. It confirmed that: ‘Scottish education does many things well and some things particularly well’. It also indicated where improvements could be made, and provided signposts showing how schools could build on established good practice. The publication of Parts 1 and 2 of How good is our school?: The Journey to Excellence,8 built on the findings of this comprehensive review of Scottish education. These publications recognised the strengths of the quality culture and provided practical support for schools in making a step change in the quality and consistency of learning, from good to great.
Part 3 of The Journey to Excellence is the revised edition of How good is our school?.9 The set of quality indicators it provides remains the core tool for self-evaluation, complemented by the dimensions of excellence outlined in Parts 1 and 2 of The Journey to Excellence.
The framework of indicators in Part 3 encourages schools and services to look at outcomes in terms of successes and achievements for all the key stakeholders in schools, but particularly for children and young people and their parents.
The indicators can be used effectively to evaluate the quality of provision for deaf pupils and key aspects of leadership and management, all of which have a significant impact on overall outcomes for pupils. All of those involved in achieving success for deaf pupils, including staff, pupils, parents, partner agencies and management teams should be involved together in using the quality indicators to look specifically at how well deaf pupils are doing. The following indicators, in particular, will help you take a focused look at the achievements and experiences of your pupils.
1.1 Improvements in performance
2.1 Learners’ experiences
2.2 The school’s success in involving parents, carers and families
5.1 The curriculum
5.2 Teaching for effective learning
5.3 Meeting learning needs.
You can use these indicators to generate specific questions about the experiences of deaf pupils. Part 1 of Achieving success for deaf pupils will help you focus on specific features of provision which contribute to success for deaf pupils.
The Journey to Excellence Part 1: Aiming for Excellence and Part 2: Exploring Excellence, identifies and explores ten dimensions of excellence based on evidence from HMIE inspections of schools in Scotland and consistent messages from national and international research. Part 2 of Achieving success for deaf pupils looks at three of these dimensions in the context of education for deaf pupils and provides signposts for you to follow when planning for excellence.
Part 1:The quality of education for deaf pupils is based on information gathered between August 2005 and April 2006. The team, which included HM Inspectors (HMI) and staff from NDCS, visited sixteen local authorities across Scotland. They met and talked to deaf pupils in mainstream schools, in specialist resources within mainstream schools and in schools for the deaf. Schools for pupils with additional support needs where deafness was not the main factor giving rise to additional support needs, and pre-school provision were not included. The team also observed teaching and learning in classes for deaf pupils, in small groups and in mainstream classes. They met local authority managers with responsibility for services for deaf pupils, teachers of the deaf and mainstream class and subject teachers. Some visits included meetings with other professionals working with deaf pupils, including speech and language therapists, psychologists and paediatricians. In some areas, the team also met groups of parents. One group of parents also received a separate questionnaire from NDCS which sought their views of the experiences of their children. The report also draws on evidence from inspections of provision for deaf pupils undertaken by HMIE from 2004-06. It should be noted that the report does not draw any conclusions about the impact of the ASL Act on the quality of education for deaf pupils. This is because the ASL Act came into force in November 2005, during the period when the information was being collected for this report, and it was too early to draw any firm conclusions about the effects of the implementation of the Act.
Part 1 is organised under key areas as follows:
Each section also includes a summary of key features which were found to be of significance in ensuring success for deaf pupils. Examples of good practice have also been highlighted.
Part 2: Planning for excellence for deaf pupils uses the significant features for achieving success from Part 1 and links them with specific dimensions from The Journey to Excellence Part 2: Exploring Excellence. These are referred to as ‘signposts to excellence’, as building on these and the associated prompts will support the journey to excellence for deaf pupils. Schools can refer to these signposts when planning to improve their practice and the quality of education which pupils experience. Count us in: Achieving success for deaf pupils has at its centre the experiences of deaf pupils, rather than the organisations in which they are educated. Part 2 therefore focuses on the two dimensions which reach to the very heart of the learning experience.
Elements of the dimension Works together with parents to improve learning are also included because of the significant impact close partnerships between schools and parents can have on how well deaf pupils achieve in school.
The aim of the HMIE study was to identify what really made a difference for deaf pupils. Through focusing on the experiences of pupils and the outcomes they achieve through their education, the team aimed to capture evidence of the most successful practice. This information will help all staff who work with deaf pupils to make their own improvement journey.