The educational context in expert assessments. A study of special education documents of children in ECEC institutions

The study investigates how expert assessments describe and assess the context in kindergartens (ECEC) regarding children receiving special education support. The focus is on how educational and psychological counselling services (PPTs) assess or fail to assess potential deficiencies in the educational environment. The research question is: How do expert assessment documents refer to the kindergarten context when reporting on a child’s need for special education support?

The results identify five ways the kindergarten context is discussed: 1) The context is hidden, where the child’s challenges are attributed to the child without mentioning the kindergarten environment; 2) The context is separated from the child, where information about the kindergarten is provided separately from the child’s challenges; 3) The child is placed in the context, where the child’s challenges are described in specific situations in the kindergarten; 4) The context is emphasised, where the kindergarten’s support for the child is described; and 5) Critical assessment of the kindergarten context, where the context is assessed in light of the child’s need for support. The study finds that there is a tendency to focus on the child’s individual challenges, with little criticism or assessment of deficiencies in the kindergarten environment.

The data collection is based on in-depth analysis of 23 expert assessments of children with 1-10 weekly hours of special education support in different kindergartens. The assessments include observations, educational reports from kindergarten, and in some cases results from external tests such as BVPS and Reynell Developmental Language Scales. The data were analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns in how the kindergarten context is described.

Franck, K. (2022). The educational context in expert assessments. A study of special education documents of children in ECEC institutions. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 37(5), 819–833.

Online year: 2021

Issue year: 2022

Review year: 2022