Trends in Special School Placement to 1986: measuring, assessing and explaining segregation
- 1 January 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Oxford Review of Education
- Vol. 14 (2) , 139-161
- https://doi.org/10.1080/0305498880140202
Abstract
There has been much speculation about the consequences of the 1981 Education Act for the integration of children with special needs. In this paper I investigate this issue by an examination of national trends in special school placement. I introduce new methods to measure segregation and to identify the sources from which special school pupils come. Using these methods I conclude that there is only slight evidence that there has been a trend towards integration since the 1981 Education Act was implemented. Moreover there are many competing explanations for the observed trend. Using national statistics dating from 1961 I show relationships between changes in segregation and changes in pupil‐teacher ratios, school rolls and the number of special school places. I argue that the most likely explanation for the trend since 1983 lies in the assessment and statementing requirements of the Act, not in its clause concerning integration.Keywords
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- Is the Integration of Children with Special Needs Happening?: an analysis of recent statistics of pupils in special schoolsOxford Review of Education, 1985
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