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Differential month of birth effects in the identification of special educational needs: An English study.
Garry Squires
In: 34th International School Psychology Association Conference; 09 Jul 2012-13 Jul 2012; McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 2012.
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Abstract
In England, there are processes around the identification of special educational needs (SEN) should mean that should ensure that those pupils who need most help receive it. However, there are concerns that this process is not working and there is an over-identification of pupils with SEN and a wasting of scarce resources. Previous research has shown that summer born children are more likely to be identified as having SEN. However, these studies have tended to treat SEN as a homogenous category. A survey of 450 schools was undertaken to explore the levels of SEN and the categories of SEN for 15,640 pupils. This has led differential summer birth effect being noted in category of SEN, with moderate learning difficulties being more susceptible. When more thorough assessments are undertaken, the month of birth effect is no longer evident. This has clear implications for the school psychologists in helping schools with the assessment and identification of SEN and allocation and management of scarce educational resources.
Keyword(s)
assessment; identification; month of birth; special educational need