How are systems of provision organised to meet the needs of learners (identified as having disabilities under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) in inclusive settings within the compulsory school sector?

1. Organisation of Provision
to Support Inclusive Education project

2. The European Agency for Special Needs
and Inclusive Education
The Agency is an independent organisation that acts as a
platform for collaboration for its 29 member countries,
working towards ensuring more inclusive education
systems. The Agency’s mission is to help member
countries improve the quality and effectiveness of their
inclusive provision for all learners.
For more information visit: www.european-agency.org

3. Organisation of Provision
Project focus
• The OoP project (2011 – 2014) set out to address the
question:
How are systems of provision organised to meet the
needs of learners (identified as having disabilities under
the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities) in inclusive settings within the compulsory
school sector?

4. The OoP project conceptual
framework (1)
• Recognises the need for system change to move from a deficit
(needs-based) model to a model that considers rights within
education, including the right of the learner to participate and to
express a view
• Supports a move from compensatory approaches and
organisation of provision in terms of individual support to an
examination of how systems of support can build the capacity of
all schools
• Sees barriers as being within school systems and practices not
individual learners

5. The OoP project conceptual
framework (2)
• Places increasing emphasis on preventing failure rather
than remediation and focuses on developing resilience
to empower learners and schools
• Emphasises the need for co-operation between
agencies and families to support active participation in
decision making
• Recognises the importance of social context and
meaningful learning for life

6. Summary of key areas (1)
Legislation
• Learners needing additional support should be included in the
general system
• Legislation and policy should recognise the rights of children
with disabilities to (early) support, quality education (without
discrimination), access to and full participation in all educational
activities and inclusion in community
Inclusive capacity/capability of all schools should be increased by:
• Developing the role of specialist settings in providing support
• supporting initial teacher education and on going professional
development and support though collaboration and networking
• Providing training for LSAs/others to support all learners

7. Summary of key areas (2)
Curriculum
• requires flexibility to develop relevant learning for all
Assessment of needs
• consider a move away from labelling and categorisation and
focus on support needed to participate in all educational
opportunities
• develop co-ordinated inter-agency approaches to support a
move away from a ‘medical’ model
Assessment for/of learning
• on-going assessment and feedback to support further learning
• national tests etc designed to allow access to all

8. Summary of key areas (3)
Key role of school leaders:
• Share leadership tasks and develop support networks
• Listen to learners
• Support teachers
• Focus on learning
• Use data/information for improvement
• Collaborate with all stakeholders, local agencies - with learners
and families at the centre
• Work with community leaders to develop a long term view and
inclusive accountability

9. Summary of key areas (4)
• Move to include ‘support’ as part of general education –
for all learners
• Develop funding models that are responsive to changing
support needs and reward success
• Move to early support and prevention and improving
capacity/capability of schools – focus on quality not
quantity

10. Common challenges
• The language of inclusion – need to develop a shared vision and
terminology
• Allocating support without ‘labels’ – acceptance of different
forms of support as part of the ‘regular’ system
• Including learners with learning disabilities (curriculum issues) –
particularly in secondary education
• Professional development and on-going support for school
leaders, teachers, support staff
• Providing services ‘close to home’ for low incidence disabilities
• Cooperation between different adminstrations (national, local)
and different agencies
• Flexible (delegated) funding models – incentives for success

11. Project outputs
All project results, including country reports and examples of
practice, national overviews, reports from 5 selected case study
sites and 5 thematic seminars can be found on the project web
area
Key projects outcomes include
• a Practical tool to support decision makers
• the project summary report in 23 languages
• a Literature Review

12. More information
www.european-agency.org
European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
Østre Stationsvej 33
DK-5000 Odense C
Denmark
secretariat@european-agency.org
This publication has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The Lifelong Learning Programme ran between 2007 and 2013.