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AGENCY eBULLETIN April 2014
Dear Readers,
First of all I would like to welcome all the new subscribers who have expressed interest in the Agency’s activities by signing up to this quarterly newsletter.
The Agency started this year with the ambitious multi-annual work programme for the period 2014–2020 and with the new name: European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. Other administrative changes this year include the Brussels Office’s move at the end of May to a new, modern office building in Brussels.
This spring is also the beginning of a ground-breaking co-operation between the Agency and one of its member countries, Malta.
This newsletter brings you updates on the new project on Raising Achievement for All Learners in Inclusive Education which builds on a previous project in the field, as well as findings and publications based on the results of the recent ICT for Inclusion project, Vocational Education and Training project and the Agency’s International Conference on inclusive education.
Thank you for following our news on my new Director’s Blog launched this spring and on the Agency website: http://www.european-agency.org/news
 Cor J.W. Meijer
Director
European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
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Ground-breaking co-operation between the Agency and Malta
External audit reviewing special needs and inclusive education policy and practice
The Maltese Ministry of Education and Employment has commissioned the Agency to carry out an external audit of special needs and inclusive education policies and practice across state, church and independent schools in Malta. The audit will consider structure, process and outcome factors and will lead to information that can be used to plan systematic developments in Malta. The final audit report will be presented in late 2014 and recommendations will aim to inform future long-term work in Malta.
The contract for this consultancy work was signed in February by Malta’s Education Minister Evarist  Bartolo and Agency Director, Cor J.W. Meijer. In March there was a press conference to formally launch the activities.
A main goal of the work for the Ministry of Education and Employment is to ensure coherence between Malta’s initiatives in the field of special needs and inclusive education and the relevant European Union and international level policy aims and objectives.
The external audit will last for a year and will be conducted by a team of Agency staff, supported by external consultants who are specialists in relevant fields. The Agency team will work in co-operation with, but independently from any stakeholders in Malta.
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Raising the Achievement of All Learners in Inclusive Education
Following a one-year project on Raising Achievement for all Learners (RA4AL), the Agency will now carry out a further project in this field, running until 2016.
This work will build on the findings and recommendations of the RA4AL work, focusing in particular on the themes of pedagogical approaches for all, personalisation and inclusive leadership. The project will also take account of the potential of ICT in education and link to the European Commission ‘Opening Up Education’ initiative that aims to ‘allow All individuals to learn, Anywhere, Anytime, through Any device, with the support of Anyone’ (Communication from the Commission on Opening Up Education, 2013).
A wide range of stakeholders will be involved in the work, which will support action research in schools through the development of professional learning communities. The school-based research will explore the above themes and ways to meet the needs – and raise the achievement – of all learners in inclusive settings.
A kick-off meeting will be held in Athens 17–19 June 2014 as an event under the Greek Presidency of the EU. Further project information will be made available via the Agency website following this meeting.
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Brussels Office move
The Agency’s Brussels Office is moving premises at the end of May. The new office will be in Rue Montoyer 21, 1000 Brussels.
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ICT for Inclusion Project Outcomes
The essential purpose of using ICT in education for learners with disabilities and special needs is to promote equity in educational opportunities. The ICT for Inclusion (ICT4I) summary report presents the main findings of the project, arguing that access to ICT that supports inclusion requires widely available, affordable and accessible technology.
The research literature review carried out in the framework of the ICT4I project emphasises that the effective use of ICT for the inclusion of learners with disabilities and SEN is widely recognised as good practice, not only for all learners.
A main finding from the project was that data collection and monitoring of ICT4I is an area that currently receives less emphasis in European countries. In response to this, a framework for monitoring key aspects of ICT4I policy has been developed. The goal of the ICT4I Policy Monitoring Framework is to outline an agenda for initial auditing and then monitoring the implementation of a system-based, multi-level policy for ICT for inclusion.
The Agency ICT for Inclusion project ran between 2012 and 2013, and during this time three complementary information collection activities were conducted, based on country information, reviews and identification of examples of innovative practice. The project web area has been finalised and has been updated with the following new materials:
- Full country reports providing an overview of key policy and practice issues related to ICT for inclusion in participating countries
- A country resources page, where research literature abstracts and examples of innovative practice can be searched for based on 5 thematic areas, research type or country;
- A list of international resources that supports the implementation of policy and practice and links to key publications.
For more information on this project, contact the Agency: secretariat@european-agency.org
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