The Agency's 'Raising the Achievement of All Learners in Inclusive Education' project (2014–2017) aimed to provide evidence of effective practice in raising achievement and building the capacity of schools and communities to include and support all learners.

2. Overview of presentation
• The Agency
• The ‘Raising Achievement’ (RA) project overview
o Project activities
o Project practical work
o Project outcomes and outputs

3. The Agency
• An independent organisation that acts as a platform for collaboration for the
ministries of education in member countries
• Our mission is to help member countries improve their inclusive education policy
and practice for all learners
• Our work is in line with and directly supports international and European Union
policy initiatives on education, equity, equal opportunities and rights for all
learners
• Co-funded by the member countries’ ministries of education and the
European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme

4. Position on Inclusive Education Systems
Vision for inclusive education systems…
...all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-
quality educational opportunities in their local community,
alongside their friends and peers

5. Currently
• 31 member countries: Austria, Belgium (Flemish and
French speaking communities), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales)
• Secretariat in Odense, Denmark
• European Liaison office in Brussels, Belgium

6. Key activities
• Provide information for member countries on their progress and developments
with regards to inclusion
• Thematic projects focusing on priority topics identified by member countries
• Data collection and statistics
• Information dissemination
• Organisation of special events (European Hearings, conferences, thematic
seminars, workshops and meetings)

7. ‘Raising the Achievement of all Learners in
Inclusive Education’ (2014–2017)

8. Project Background
• Highest performing education systems combine quality with equity (OECD, 2012)
• Inclusive practice: equal opportunities and more equitable outcomes for all
learners
• Positive impact of inclusion on academic achievement (European Agency, 2012)
• Need to pursue equity in the aims, content, teaching methods and forms of learning
to achieve a high quality education for all (Council Conclusions, 17 February 2017)

9. Inclusive Education and Raising Achievement
• Inclusive education as an organising principle or ‘mega strategy’:
• Diversity in the classroom increases capability and provides:
o more equitable opportunities for all learners to participate, to raise
their achievement and experience success
o more authentic outcomes for life (including personal and social)
through flexible organisation, curriculum and assessment and
learner-centered teaching.

10. Project aim and questions
•Aim: to provide evidence of effective practice in raising achievement and building
the capacity of schools and communities to include and support all learners
•Questions:
o What pedagogical strategies and leadership approaches best support
learning and are effective in raising the achievement (academic and social)
of all learners?
o What collaborative approaches are effective in raising the achievement of
all learners?

11. Project ‘Theory of Change’
• Pedagogy: from traditional approaches to flexible teaching and support,
assessment for learning, relevant curriculum - increasing teacher confidence in
taking responsibility for ALL
• Leadership: from reactive to constructive/proactive support for staff and learners
• Collaboration: from individual/small group stakeholder work to trust and
effective co-working for whole LC
• Achievement – from focus on academic/accredited outcomes to authentic
learning for life and work, active learner engagement

12. Collaborative learning
Learning Communities:
‘collaboration of education stakeholders around
clusters of schools involving school and
community personnel, together with
researchers, local area leaders and policy
makers’ (European Agency, 2016)

13. Selection of Learning Communities
• 29 Agency member countries have participated in the project
• Criteria were defined for applications to be involved in school-based work
• 13 countries applied (Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, UK-England, UK-Northern Ireland, and
UK-Scotland)
• 3 Learning Communities (LC) were selected: from Italy, Poland, UK-
Scotland

14. Calderglen mainstream
school and Sanderson
special school, East Kilbride
Group of Schools in
Łajski, Commune of
Wieliszew
Istituto Tecnico Agrario
Sereni (I.T.A. Sereni) &
Istituto Comprensivo
Antonio Rosmini, Rome
Lazio region

15. Networking activities
• Project kick-off meeting in June 2014.
• School/LC based work between May 2015 until
end 2016
• Participants from each country: 1 practitioner
and 1 researcher (total: 60 researchers and
external project participants).
• Participants‘ visits in LC sites in 2015 and follow-
up visits in 2016.
• On-line forum: platform of communication and
on-going support between the visits.
• Working Conference in Malta (April, 2017).

16. Raising Achievement school-based activity
Baseline 1
• Self-Review
• Learner Information
• LC contextual
analysis (change to
date)
• Identification of key
issues
Project Input Structure/Process Outcomes
Baseline 2 – Analysis of
theory of change / what
works / Project Imapct
• Visits
• Forum research /
experience to
inform decisions
and develop
thinking / practice
• LC organisation
• Network
Community
engagement
• Support systems
• Leadership
• Adapted curriculum
& pedagogy
• Support stratagies
• Positive attitude
• Increased
participation
• Increased
collaboration
• Developing skills &
confidence
(teachers and
learners
Outcomes leading to
raised attainment /
achievement increased
independence further
study & employment

17. LC focus areas
The LCs have identified some key issues as a focus for the practical work including:
•Developing strategies to increase staff engagement - professional development,
leadership opportunities.
•Exploring strategies to provide a more relevant curriculum (cross-curricular
approaches, practical/vocational courses).
•Examining a pedagogy for deep learning and developing learners’ growth mindset
•Increasing the learner voice in assessment and learning.
•Working with parents and the local community (e.g. neighbourhood schools,
universities, employers).

18. Self-Review
• Pedagogy for all learners
• Support for learning
• Leadership roles and approaches
• Learner well-being and participation
• Curriculum development
• Partnerships and collaborative working
• Support systems
How well are we
doing? What can we
improve? Dialogue
with stakeholders
How will we monitor
progress? What
evidence can we
collect?
What does the data
tell us? (Priorities)
What actions will help
to answer our
questions? Who will
be involved?
What specific
questions should we
investigate?
Start of Raising
Achievement
project ‘input’

19. Outcomes of LC work (1)
• School development through an ‘inclusive lens’ - focus on equity across all school
structures and processes (e.g. learner grouping, staff allocation, access to
curriculum and wider activities, accreditation of learning and qualifications,
resource allocation).
• Analysis of learner attainment and achievement – development of more
personalised ways to value wider and more authentic outcomes.
• Measures to address the health and well-being of all learners.
• Flexible learning opportunities that provide continuity and progression through the
phases of education and ensure the relevance of learning for life and work.

20. Outcomes of LC work (2)
• Shared leadership and increased collaboration among school staff
• Partnership with parents, carers and families- local community and employers’
involvement to increase curriculum relevance and work opportunities
• Increased capacity for evidence-informed practice within the school through
networking both within the learning community and beyond
• Monitoring the quality of inclusive education for a deeper understanding of
structures and processes and their impact on outcomes for all learners.
• Developing a ‘growth mindset’, which sees hard work and persistence as
contributing to success.

21. Seven actions and key messages for RA (1)
1. Create an RA culture
•A culture of trust and openness enables all learners to succeed
2. Lift limits on learning
•Achievement is raised by extending the learning opportunities available to every
member of the learning community
3. Develop a system of mutual support
•Everyone needs support – and can provide support to others

22. Seven actions and key messages for RA (2)
4. Nurture all learners
•Raising achievement practice is learner-centred
5. Share leadership
•Raising achievement is everyone’s responsibility
6. Focus on what matters
•Raising achievement requires ongoing monitoring and reflection on priorities
7. ACHIEVE MORE TOGETHER!
•Raising achievement involves building a collaborative learning community

23. Recommendations for school leaders and
teachers
• Build a strong leadership team and distribute tasks among stakeholders to ensure
sustainability and secure engagement.
• Develop a school ethos that supports respectful interactions between all
stakeholders.
• Ensure evidence-informed teaching and learning.
• Provide a flexible curriculum to ensure relevance to all learners.
• Develop ‘assessment literacy’ among teachers and other stakeholders
• Build structures/processes that support collaboration with families and specialist
services

24. Recommendations for system leaders
and policy-makers (1)
• Develop ways to gather and share information on ‘what works’.
• Facilitate national dialogue to develop a shared understanding of
inclusive education.
• Increase collaboration between ministries/departments at national
level that have a key role in education and support for learners and
their families.

25. Recommendations for system leaders
and policy-makers (2)
• Ensure clarity regarding the functions of formative and summative
assessment and work towards an integrated assessment system that is
fit for purpose and includes all learners.
• Ensure that policy for initial teacher education and continuous
professional development focuses on equity and diversity.
• Undertake a review of accountability and quality assurance mechanisms
to ensure they are coherent and support inclusive development.

26. Project outputs
• Raising the Achievement of all Learners in Inclusive Education:
Lessons from European Policy and Practice and Final Summary Report
• Raising the Achievement of All Learners: A Resource to Support Self-Review
• Raising the Achievement of all Learners in Inclusive Education: Literature Review
• Raising the Achievement of all Learners in Inclusive Education:
Conceptual framework
• Key Actions for Raising Achievement: Guidance for teachers and leaders and 22
Country reports on individual approaches to raising achievement are soon
available on the project web area

27. Contact
www.european-agency.org
European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
Østre Stationsvej 33, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark
secretariat@european-agency.org
Tel: +45 64 41 00 20