Educational engagement, expectation and attainment of children with disabilities: Evidence from the Scottish Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Government statistics show that children with special educational needs and disabilities do not achieve as well academically as their peers, which impacts on later employment and socioeconomic circumstances. Addressing these inequalities is a key policy area which currently lacks a satisfactory evidence base. To explore the issue, the present study used data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study which contains data from the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses along with other administrative data, from a representative sample of the Scottish population. Using this large and longitudinal sample, the present study examines educational engagement, expectations and attainment for children with self-reported disability, controlling for other early childhood factors. The results show that children with mental health problems were at higher risk of leaving school early, and that children with learning difficulties were less likely to gain advanced qualifications. Neither limiting longterm illness in early childhood nor disability in adolescence were significant predictors of engagement, however, they did predict measures of academic expectation and attainment. Results suggest there is a critical phase for attainment, with area deprivation in early childhood but not adolescence being important for later educational inequalities.

Flexibility in individual funding schemes: How well did Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme support remote learning for students with disability during COVID‐19?

“…In comparison to their peers, children and young people with disability face significant inequities. This group is more likely to experience poorer health outcomes, be excluded or suspended from school and less likely to be employed (Cox & Marshall, 2020; Hall, Fildes, Liyanarachchi, Plummer, & Reynolds, 2019). Evidence from previous pandemics suggests that these events worsen inequities (Quinn & Kumar, 2014).…”

Family and School Relationship during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

“…Special mention must be made of students with disabilities, since several of the analysed studies [ 27 , 51 , 59 , 62 ] showed that, in a pandemic situation and compared to fellow pupils, these groups are at a disadvantage in terms of education and well-being. This is not a new finding since, in previous studies, this group’s educational, social, and employment differences have been highlighted [ 88 ].…”

Participation and ICT : Students with Special Educational Needs in Upper Secondary School

“…The term special educational needs (SEN) is applicable in both cases and embraces students at risk of failing to achieve educational goals for a wide variety of reasons (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 1994), making them eligible for additional or different educational services and support to meet their learning needs in school (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education [European Agency], 2020). Students with SEN show poorer academic achievement in upper secondary school (Cox & Marshall, 2020;Hakkarainen, Holopainen & Savolainen, 2013;Yoder & Cantrell, 2019), higher levels of school absence (Attwood & Croll, 2015;Havik, Bru & Ertesvåg, 2015) and a greater drop-out rate (Hakkarainen et al, 2015;Korhonen, Linnanmäki, & Aunio, 2014;Yoder & Cantrell, 2019) than students without SEN. Furthermore, they are less likely to graduate from upper secondary school (Yoder & Cantrell, 2019).…”