Assessment
Assessment is part of the planning, teaching and learning cycle. You should use evidence of learning, in a range of settings and contexts, throughout the school year to assess learners’ progress. Effective assessment identifies learners’ individual strengths and needs and provides information about learner progress. Many learners with special educational needs (SEN) can be assessed alongside their peers through statutory assessment. Some pupils may need to be exempted from part or all of the statutory curriculum and assessment on a short or long term basis. CCEA have collated the guidance for principals on these exemptions.
A range of non statutory assessment frameworks have also been developed to meet the diverse needs of learners with special educational needs.
Assessment for Learners with SEN
Assessment plays a key role in helping schools to improve learner outcomes. Knowing how each learner is performing allows the implementation of strategies to help individuals improve. Effective use of assessment information supports good practice at class level and at school level and allows schools to set meaningful and challenging targets in their School Development Plan. The Q Skills and Quest for Learning Review published in 2021 identified a need for guidance on assessment for special schools and Specialist Provision Classes in Mainstream (SPiMs) which cater for the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
The ‘Guidance on Assessment in Special Schools and Settings’ aims:
- To review the learning, teaching and assessment cycle in special schools and similar educational settings.
- To raise awareness of both statutory requirements and exceptions for learners with special educational needs.
- To outline effective techniques and strategies for the assessment of learners with SEN.
This guidance may be useful for:
- Principals and teaching staff, in special schools, and in specialist provision classes in mainstream (SPiMs) to offer guidance for approaches and strategies that are in place and provide ideas to develop assessment practice further.
- Beginning teachers, or teachers moving from mainstream to special education settings to support reflection as to how they may develop their approach and practice in assessment.
- Principals and teaching staff in mainstream schools to support colleagues in units in mainstream schools to familiarise themselves with approaches and strategies required, and to effectively deliver whole-school planning.
