Module 21 – Educational Outcomes
Estimated Time: 25 minutes
Student Aims:
· To understand the definition of an educational outcome and what it means in terms of a student’s learning needs
· To learn how to assess students’ individual learning needs
· To understand how to evaluate the learning environment
· To be able to relate the elements of wellbeing to educational outcomes, and understand how they can affect such outcomes
· To know the different ways to target these elements in order to facilitate their improvement
· To understand the importance of the parent’s role in creating positive educational outcomes
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21.1 Introduction
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Every student deserves a fair and equal amount of support in their education.
Each student’s ability to learn should be developed in order to achieve academic success. However, students with special educational needs are not always able to have the same measures of ‘success’ as other students going through the standard British education system.
In this module, you will explore how the varying needs of students affect their educational outcomes.
21.2 The Meaning of Educational Outcomes
An educational outcome is a term used to describe a student’s academic progress in relation to their learning situation and abilities.
This is important for the evaluation of students with special educational needs, as it allows goal setting and the assessment of the student’s progress.
If you are working with a SEN student who is struggling with their educational programme, thinking about their goals will allow you to better accommodate their learning environment to ensure that the highest success is achieved.
In some cases, it may also be necessary for the student to follow a bespoke curriculum. In either case, an evaluation of personal goals, objectives and progress is essential.
Assessing the Student’s Individual Learning Needs
You can attempt to predict an educational outcome only when you understand the elements of a student’s learning needs. When you understand how much they are able to do, you can set short-term and long-term goals for their learning programme. The educational outcomes will be different for every student regardless of a shared diagnosis of needs (e.g. two students who have autism spectrum disorder will not necessarily have the same educational outcomes).
You already know that there are several categories of need: physical disabilities, specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional or mental health (SEMT) needs, and sensory impairments.
Whilst students who share a diagnostic condition may have different educational outcomes, there will be shared needs within each category that will need to be addressed.
For instance
You will need to make sure that the right equipment and tools for support are acquired.
The next step is to understand the complexities of a particular student’s condition. This could include understanding the level of ability that your student has to participate in classroom activities, or whether a specialised educational plan is necessary for the student. Knowing the difficulties that the student has, as well as understanding their strengths, will make it easier to create positive educational outcomes.
While you may be able to anticipate an educational outcome, you cannot base this solely on the student’s current needs. Students will learn and make progress at different times and rates.
An educational outcome prediction should set a hopeful standard of achievement for a student, not an expectation-oriented one. Predicting an outcome is about taking on board the students’ strengths and areas for development, and making an informed estimate of achievements or goals. This is crucial because students often surprise you with what they can achieve, so it is important not to make assumptions about ‘limitations’.
Evaluating the Learning Environment
Once you have assessed the student’s strengths and areas for development, you must consider the learning environment as this can impact the educational outcomes of the student. The learning environment is the place that offers the tools necessary for student success and it should be of the highest possible standard.
If the student has limited access to the tools that they require in order to participate equally in education, then this limited access could be a huge barrier to educational success and have a negative impact on educational outcomes.
The general learning environment may be the single most influential factor in the students’ needs and emotional behaviours. The environment experienced by the student may contain triggers that make them feel certain emotions.
For example
Some students who are surrounded by noise cannot concentrate, which can make them frustrated. Other students feel anxious when they are alone and surrounded by quiet.
A special educational needs environment should be created with the student’s learning needs in mind whilst anticipating possible negative triggers. Observing a student’s behaviours in response to particular situations can help you discover what needs to be changed within the learning environment.
When evaluating this environment, the first thing to assess is any existing educational adjustments or tools. Then, you should look for the tools that are missing. If the environment does not cater to the student’s needs, this must be remedied.
Taking the time to make improvements in a learning environment means that you are investing in the success of the whole class, as any negative factors will impact all students. Realising this significance will allow you to make meaningful and productive changes in the lives of your students.
21.3 Wellbeing and Educational Outcomes
The wellbeing of the student is central to their educational outcomes.
Assessing the wellbeing of students is about working towards meeting their individual needs on an emotional, social and educational basis.
What is Wellbeing?
Wellbeing is a term used to describe the health of an individual. The aim is good health. Wellbeing is a factor that is measured in many types of social sciences, and, depending on the study, wellbeing will be measured and considered in different ways.
Generally, wellbeing includes the following factors: physical health, emotional health, social health, mental health, and spiritual health. However, as was said, depending on the field of science and the objectives of the research, only certain aspects of these categories will be measured.
For instance
In an educational setting focusing on SEN students, student wellbeing is considered to encompass the following: emotions, behaviours, social and school.
Emotions take into account things like mood, fears and anxieties that a student may have.
Behaviours include the extent of one’s attention, problems with activity, ability to sit still, follow instructions, or the occurrence of lying.
The social element accounts for friendships, the presence of bullying and experiences of victimisation.
Finally, the school element considers the relationship the student has with the school setting, such as how much the student enjoys the school environment and to what extent it engages the person.
A key consideration to make when trying to define wellbeing is that it is a broad term with numerous elements, many of which cannot be scientifically measured. Nor can they always be assessed.
Wellbeing is as complex as human beings themselves – we are organisms that present difficulties when we try to identify and measure our make-up and what contributes to our wellbeing. However, we can perceive the wellbeing of others – or lack of it – through the expression of their emotions, body language and other observational techniques.
How Wellbeing Impacts on Educational Outcomes
When referring to the elements of wellbeing for the school setting, it is essential for you to understand how they relate to and impact the educational outcomes of special educational needs students.
For instance
If a student has better control and experience of all four elements of this school-defined wellbeing, they may have far higher levels of academic achievement. They will also be more engaged in school as they continue in their academic pursuits.
A student who has good emotional control may have better wellbeing and fewer behavioural problems (e.g. fidgeting, poor attention). They are likely to display social wellbeing which is reliant on positive friendships and relationships.
Finally, a high level of wellbeing in school would mean that the student enjoys and is comfortable in their learning environment. However, care must be taken because there may be some students who appear to be in control but are merely repressing their emotions or feelings.
Some studies have found that a student with strong emotional wellbeing (where little to no mood swings are experienced and fear and anxiety are not prominent problems) will have great academic progress in primary school. This experience will then help the student to develop into an engaged secondary school student. This is particularly important for SEN students with emotional problems and this trend shows the possible potential for students if the right resources and support are provided for their education.
When attention skills are strong and behaviour is positive, a student is far more likely to make progress in their academic studies and more likely to show increasing engagement in higher education.
Bullying has a large impact on a student’s educational outcomes. One study showed that students who are bullied are disadvantaged and likely to struggle academically. Of course, it would be inappropriate to generalise and we would certainly not want to predict failure in a child. One thing that special needs teachers understand is that they are learning all the time from the different needs and interactions of their students.
21.4 Targeting the Elements of Wellbeing
Improving the elements of wellbeing, as defined in the school setting, is key to helping students achieve.
In other words, you can affect how a student’s wellbeing will influence their educational outcome; depending on the support you put in place.
Restorative Practice and Social Skills
Restorative practice can be applied to emotional, social and behavioural problems within the elements of wellbeing. As discussed in Module 8, restorative practice is the method of conflict resolution that helps a person take responsibility for one’s actions and reach a resolution without blame. This can be a challenging task in a standard classroom and is no different when working with students who have special educational needs.
Restorative practice is a tool that can be used to facilitate social interaction between students, to problem-solve and resolve conflicts between them. All students must be engaged to maintain focus and resolve any difficult situations.
It is essential to keep in mind all the student’s abilities and how easy or difficult it is for them to understand the intervention of restorative practice. So, mindfully applying elements of restorative practice and keeping the process simple for all concerned is the best way of achieving a resolution.
Engaging Students with Special Educational Needs
Engaging a student within the school setting and curriculum will result in a different experience and task for each student. For some students, a strong social atmosphere around them is key to engaging them in the school material and environment. Having friends will make them want to come to school every day to socialise, and having friends who are also engaged with the school material will help motivate them to be conscientious in their studies.
Positive relationships with authorities, such as teachers and support staff, will also allow the students to be more willing and comfortable to be supported.
Some students may struggle to succeed regardless of these positive influences. Using the curriculum flexibly to allow students to explore their areas of interest, and be themselves, will help them to become more engaged in the school environment.
Other students who may not have a self-guided interest in a particular subject area may need to be stimulated in other ways. This can include incorporating several different activities in the class, using active or kinaesthetic learning, or presenting more audio and visual items in the lessons.
Multisensory techniques and allowing students the time to process what they are learning whilst keeping the pace interesting are important factors in success.
Ultimately, the best way to engage any student in school is to address their individual needs, and the same is true of students with special needs who may require specific support.
Assess the student’s needs, evaluate the learning environment and work with the student to create an enjoyable classroom for all concerned. When you are mindful of the student’s needs and are open and willing to make reasonable adjustments, success will be the likeliest outcome.
21.5 Parental Support and Educational Outcomes
All educational professionals know that parental involvement is key to students’ success.
Parents may not always be aware of their child’s special needs and how these should be supported. By meeting with parents and discussing your observations and the student’s educational profile, you can work together to form a good understanding of the child’s needs and how the environment can be made inclusive for them.
Something to consider is that parents are also educators and have a large influence on their children’s motivation, understanding and success. So, both the teacher and the parents need to be consistent in the way they address the child’s needs.
Consistency in both the classroom and at home will ensure that the student will reach the best educational outcome possible.
Conclusion
In this module, you have learned the definition of educational outcomes and what it means in relation to a student’s learning. You understand how to assess a student’s needs and evaluate an educational environment in order to plan educational outcomes.
You can relate the importance of wellbeing to educational outcomes and understand how these elements can affect such outcomes.
You know the different ways to target support to facilitate the engagement of the school in relation to student achievement.
Finally, you understand the importance of the parent’s role in creating positive educational outcomes.
In the next module, we discuss the teacher’s responsibilities.
WELL DONE!
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