Special Educational Needs across the Pre-School Period: EYTSEN Technical Paper 1(EPPE)

The Early Years Transitions and Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) project builds on the work of the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project, a major longitudinal study of a national sample of young children’s progress and development through pre-school and into primary school until the end of Key Stage 1 (age 3+ to 7 years). Both the EPPE and EYTSEN research studies was funded by the DfES. The EYTSEN study explores evidence of possible special educational needs (SEN) amongst pre-school children. It uses a range of information to identify children who may be ‘at risk’ in terms of either cognitive or social behavioural development and investigates links with a variety of child, parent and family characteristics. It also describes variations in the policies and provision offered by different pre-school centres designed to support children with special needs.

Table of Contents:
SUMMARY AND KEY FINDINGS INTRODUCTION Aims of the EYTSEN project SECTION ONE Examining the impact of different pre-schools on the progress and development of children who may be seen as ‘at risk’ of developing ‘special needs’ over the pre-school period and in transition to primary school SECTION 1A: The characteristics of children identified as ‘at risk’ at different time points The identification of young children ‘at risk’ of SEN at entry to pre-school Cognitive attainment at entry to pre-school Characteristics of ‘at risk’ children Multiple disadvantage and cognitive ‘at risk’ status at entry to pre-school Social behaviour at entry to pre-school Time spent in pre-school and social/behavioural scores Identifying ‘at risk’ children for social behaviour Multiple disadvantage and social/behavioural ‘at risk’ classifications at entry to pre-school The identification of young children ‘at risk’ of SEN at entry to primary school Cognitive attainment at entry to primary school Characteristics of ‘at risk’ children for cognitive attainment at entry to primary school Multiple disadvantage and cognitive ‘at risk’ status at school entry Social behaviour at entry to primary school Identifying ‘at risk’ children and characteristics to be investigated Child characteristics of social behaviour ‘at risk’ children at entry to primary school Multiple disadvantage and social/behavioural ‘at risk’ status at entry to primary school Relationship between cognitive and behavioural ‘at risk’ classifications at entry to primary school SECTION 1B: Analysis of the distribution of ‘at risk’ children across different types of pre-school providers SEN children reported ‘on roll’ Identification of cognitive ‘at risk’ and concentrations of SEN children Identification of social behavioural ‘at risk’ and concentrations of SEN children SEN and enrolment policies Children identified as potentially ‘at risk’ on cognitive development by pre-school type and at entry to pre-school and entry to primary school SECTION 1C: Patterns of progress and changes in cognitive and social/behavioural development for ‘at risk’ groups across the pre-school period Movement in and out of ‘at risk’ status from pre-school entry to primary school entry for cognitive and social behavioural measures Multiple disadvantage and changes in ‘at risk’ status over the pre-school period SECTION TWO Pre-school centres’ policies and practices in the early identification of SEN Mechanisms used for the identification and provision of special needs The uses of systems for identification of ‘at risk’ and concentrations of SEN children Use of observation schedules Methods for identification of ‘at risk’ which differed by pre-school type Other systems for the identification of special needs Strategies for dealing with SEN Other factors which may be relevant in the identification of special needs SECTION THREE Relationships between pre-school centre quality and the progress and development of different ‘at risk’ groups Quality in pre-school and special needs Distribution of ‘at risk’ children across pre-school settings Distribution of children with ‘disabilities’ across pre-school settings The relationship between ‘quality’ and children moving ‘in’ and ‘out’ of risk SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS APPENDICES Appendix 1 EPPE Technical Papers Appendix 2 EPPE Assessments Appendix 3 Characteristics of children with differing ‘at risk’ histories from entry to pre-school and entry to primary school