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Count Us In - Achieving inclusion in Scottish schools

4 Focusing on outcomes for pupils

4.1 The more successful schools are in achieving inclusive outcomes for their pupils, the better are the chances that these young people will go on to prosper in later life and achieve broader social inclusion in society.
If schools are to successfully implement a commitment to inclusion, they need to give careful thought to how they will evaluate their success in achieving relevant outcomes for the pupils they serve.

4.2 Schools can draw on a wide range of tangible evidence to create a set of outcome indicators relevant to their particular situation. Monitoring performance across a set of such indicators, and taking action in response to any concerns identified, should be a key part of any school's approach to achieving continuous improvement in the field of inclusion.

Indicators of inclusive schooling

4.3 The visits to schools undertaken for this report showed that schools are becoming increasingly aware of a broader range of indicators of school performance than might traditionally have been used, including some that are directly focused on issues of inclusion. The recent introduction of the national framework for measuring progress in addressing the national priorities for education is playing a part in widening the range of performance measures that are being considered.

4.4 The sort of indicators used typically relate to the following three broad areas:

Access and participation

4.5 A number of different types of evidence can be used to explore the extent to which all pupils, including those from more vulnerable groups, are able to participate fully and actively in the school community. These include measures that focus on the extent to which any barriers to access have been removed as well as overall evidence of the involvement of all pupils in different aspects of the school's life.

Indicators of successful access and participation might include:

  • safe, good quality accommodation and facilities which are welcoming and easily accessible to all;
  • access for all pupils to a broad and balanced curriculum, with a range of programmes which can be effectively matched to the needs of all pupils;
  • high levels of attendance and punctuality across the school and specifically within vulnerable groups;
  • low exclusion rates, in the context of a well-ordered positive climate within the school;
  • good levels of pupil participation in decision-making about the life of the school, including active pupil participation in lessons, and in agreeing school/class rules;
  • high levels of satisfaction amongst pupils, parents and staff about the quality of experience offered by the school;
  • effective communication from the school to parents, which all parents can readily access and is adapted where required;
  • where relevant, high success rates in helping parents re-engage in their own learning;
  • clear mechanisms through which pupils and parents can readily access a full range of specialist support services; and
  • low levels of incidents and complaints on issues such as bullying, racist behaviour and harassment.

Attainment and progress

4.6 Inclusive schools will certainly be aiming for the highest possible levels of performance across the school. Within that overall picture, however, they will also be paying particular attention to a number of specific aspects:

Indicators of successful patterns of attainment might include:

  • relatively strong performance for all pupils in relation to their prior attainment;
  • evidence of 'closing the gap' between the highest and lowest attaining pupils, whilst raising attainment overall;
  • high levels of success for pupils with special needs through meeting appropriate individual targets and obtaining qualifications;
  • high levels of performance across a broad range of subject or curricular areas, reflecting success in developing a broad range of talents and abilities;
  • high levels of attainment in relation to any vulnerable groups in the school, for example looked-after children; and
  • high levels of competence amongst pupils in core skills.

Indicators beyond school include:

  • improving patterns of leavers' destinations;
  • high rates of participation in further and higher education and employment; and
  • success in sustaining post-school placements and achieving their planned outcomes.

4.7 In addition, inclusive schools will also be monitoring to see that success achieved in helping all pupils maximise their attainment and qualifications results in successful transition into the post-school phases of lifelong learning.

The broader achievements of pupils

4.8 Looking beyond those aspects of pupil progress which are most directly associated with traditional measures of attainment, inclusive schools also closely monitor their success in promoting a broader range of achievements. Again schools should be monitoring both the overall levels of achievement reached by pupils across the school and the relative levels of success achieved by any groups of pupils who are particularly at risk of being marginalised.

Indicators of success in terms of broader achievements might include high levels of:

  • success in helping pupils to set and achieve stretching personal targets;
  • development of the knowledge, skills and dispositions associated with education for personal and social development;
  • knowledge and understanding, appropriate to pupils' stage of development, about the characteristics of safe and healthy living;
  • awareness amongst pupils of concepts of citizenship; and
  • participation and achievement in a broad range of extra-curricular activities, including sport, school clubs, creative and aesthetic activities, outdoor education, residential experiences, community service and enterprise activities.

Self-evaluation and planning for improvement

4.9 Regular monitoring of the sort of outcome indicators listed above provides the school with powerful sources of information about the effectiveness and impact of inclusive practice. This can be fed into wider processes of planning for improvement.

4.10 In addition to looking at overall patterns of performance across the types of outcomes described above, inclusive schools should also be closely monitoring the performance of individuals or groups who are particularly vulnerable to being marginalised. This could include looking at the same data 'sliced' in a variety of ways, perhaps to highlight the relative performance of pupils from less advantaged social backgrounds, pupils with learning difficulties or pupils from different ethnic backgrounds.

4.11 Analyses of these sorts of outcomes should feed directly into evaluations of a school's overall quality of provision using the framework of national quality indicators and advice published in How good is our school?. As well as informing the judgements made by a school about its performance on quality indicators such as 'equality and fairness' and 'meeting pupil needs' the analyses described above would provide valuable evidence relevant to quality indicators across all seven key areas in the framework.

4.12 The staff involved should be asking the following questions:

The outcome indicators outlined earlier in this chapter may help to answer the second question.

4.13 Whatever the specific methodology of self-evaluation or audit used, it should lead to planning which clearly includes appropriately prioritised development projects directed at making the school more inclusive. Prioritisation may take the form of targeting particular aspects (for example accommodation or curricular programmes), or particular sectors of the pupil population (for example the setting up of study support initiatives).

4.14 It needs to be recognised, however, that in some schools, particularly those which serve areas with high levels of social disadvantage, the wide range of diverse initiatives can create significant difficulties in terms of creating a manageable and coherent programme of development. Effective management of large numbers of initiatives, with all the necessary overheads of partnership working, requires a considerable commitment of time and effort from senior managers. It requires a very clear strategic vision. Staff may also have to meet the needs of a number of different accountability mechanisms. If the combination of management resources and vision is not available or well focused, the potential benefits of promising development work can be dissipated and greatly reduced.

In one secondary school, inclusion was so embedded in the school that it was not visible as a separate strand in the school's development agenda. Staff and pupils simply assumed that all pupils were included and took steps to see this happened.
All were immensely proud of their school and its reputation. The school was very much a focus of the community. To meet the needs of a pupil with cerebral palsy,
who was in a wheelchair, the PE department had contacted Sport Scotland to discuss sports for disabled people. The consequence was a balanced and appropriate programme, including archery that also proved to be of interest to other pupils in the school. Everything the school did promoted inclusion. There was simply an attitude amongst pupils and staff that everyone should be included and no-one marginalised. It was a genuine community.

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