- Describing the forms of education in the country
- Identifying an ‘inclusive setting’ in the country
- What an ‘official decision of SEN’ means in the country
- What ‘out-of-education’ means in the country
The EASIE data collection covers all recognised forms of education at ISCED levels 02, 1, 2 and 3.
This means any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector: municipality, local or regional educational provider from the public or private sector, working with/for ministries responsible for education and areas such as health, social, welfare, labour, justice, etc.
6-15
What are the typical age ranges for the ISCED levels?
| ISCED LEVEL 02 | ISCED LEVEL 1 | ISCED LEVEL 2 | ISCED LEVEL 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6-7 | 7-12 | 13-15 | 16-18 |
Private sector schools (independent schools) have the same obligation as public sector schools to provide data to the Swedish National Agency for Education. Public and private schools have equal rights and basically follow the same set of regulations. However, private sector schools are led by a school board and not by the municipality’s educational administration. All private schools are free of charge for the pupils, which means they are all funded by the municipalities public means.
In the EASIE data collection, an inclusive setting is operationally defined as:
A recognised form of education where the child/learner follows education in mainstream classes alongside their peers for the largest part – 80% or more – of the school week.
The 80% time placement benchmark clearly indicates that a child/learner is educated in a mainstream class for the majority of their school week. At the same time, it acknowledges possibilities for small group or one-to-one withdrawal for limited periods of time (i.e. 20% or one day a week).
Very few participating countries can provide exact data on children/learners spending 80% of their time in a mainstream group/class. However, all countries can apply one of three agreed proxies that provide an approximation to this benchmark:
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 80% or more
- Data is available on the number of hours of support allocated to a child/learner
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 50% or more.
In the EASIE data collection, the agreed operational definition is:
An official decision leads to a child/learner being recognised as eligible for additional educational support to meet their learning needs.
Countries may have different types of official decision, but for all official decisions:
- There has been some form of educational assessment procedure involving different people. This procedure may involve the child/learner, parents, school-based team members, as well as professionals from multi-disciplinary teams from outside the child’s/learner’s (pre-)school.
- There is some form of legal document (plan/programme, etc.) that describes the support the child/learner is eligible to receive, which is used as the basis for decision-making.
- There is some form of regular review process of the child/learner’s needs, progress and support.
The Swedish processes for official decisions match the operational definition in the EASIE data collection. There is a form of educational assessment procedure involving different people. This procedure always involves the child/learner, parents, school-based team members, and sometimes professionals from multi-disciplinary teams from outside the child/learner’s (pre-)school. The involvement depends on what kind of SEN decisions are to be made. A specific form of legal document (plan/programme, etc.) describes the support the child/learner is eligible to receive, which is used as the basis for decision-making. Notice that the EASIE definition of decision in the case of Sweden applies to both attending a special school for learners with specific disabilities or a special programme (school) for children/learners with intellectual disability and an Action programme for learners in need of special support within any school. However, the Swedish educational system does not consider special school or special programme school to be a support. Finally, there is a regular review process of the child/learner’s needs, progress and support.
To attend a special programme, the municipality where the learner lives is responsible for their school attendance and for the educational assessment procedure. The assessment involves medical, social, psychological and pedagogical evaluation. Different specialists are involved in the different evaluations. This includes a licensed physician, a licensed psychologist, a social welfare officer and SEN experts. The municipality then makes the summarised decision.
To attend a national special school there is first an assessment to see if the child/learner belongs to the target group. The parents provide medical and often psychological journals to the specific decision-making body, the board of Admission within The National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, SPSM. The board consists of different professionals from healthcare, social welfare and education
The first step of the support process towards an official decision of Action programme is extra adjustments made by teachers. If these adjustments do not work for the learner the teacher informs the principal who conducts an educational screening and assessment to see if there are special educational needs. The principal involves the Pupils' Healthcare unit at the school. If necessary, the principal can call for external assessment, e.g. medical, psychologist, social welfare. If the learner needs specific educational support the decision is manifested in the Action programme where the different actions are listed.
In the first two processes the parents apply for the child to be received at the schools. The Action programme process may be initiated by the teacher or the principal and of course the parents, but could be done without them. However, there are strong recommendations in the Education Act to co-operate. In all processes, there is by law an obligation to listen to the children/learners and to consider what is best for them.
To be received in special school there is a formal decision from a specific decision-making body, the board of Admission within The National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, SPSM.
The responsible decision-maker in the municipality signs the official decision for attending special programmes. When the decision is signed, the child/learner has the right to attend a special programme for children/learners with intellectual disability. The decision also needs written approval from the child/learner’s legal guardian.
To receive support within special schools, special programmes and mainstream schools the legal document is the Action programme.
The official decision to be received in a special school or special programme follows the regular review processes for mainstream schools according to the Educational Act. The process is the Systematic Quality Work and focuses on all children/learners’ progress at the end of every school year. This is a responsibility at all levels within a school with the principal as main responsible.
During a school year, screening tests secure early intervention and individual development planning. Within the framework of individual plans or whenever a need of support occurs, teachers can make extra adjustments without any formal decisions or large screenings. This way the learner gets a review more often, and do not have to wait for a process of official decision but it is linked to reaching a decision. This is mainly the teacher’s responsibility.
The Action programmes are formally submitted to review every year and more often if necessary. This is the responsibility of both teachers and the principal.
Within the EASIE data collection, specific questions examine children/learners who are out of education. This means children/learners who should, by law, be in some form of recognised education, but who are out of any form of recognised education. A recognised form of education is any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector.
Placement in mainstream school is regarded as a measure of access to inclusive education. This criterion is recommended by the Convention, but it also highlights that at the society level a special school could be regarded as inclusive education because of the human right of communication.
Learners in compulsory education (ISCED 1 and 2) can attend schools with different curricula and different providers. The Swedish National Agency for Education collects data from alternative compulsory schools, such as Sami schools (ethnic orientation), special schools and special programmes. Other alternatives in the education system include international schools, national boarding schools, special youth homes and Swedish schools abroad.
The section on ‘Special forms of education’ in the Education Act regulates education in the health sector, special youth homes, international schools and home schooling. The data monitoring system considers special forms of education as temporary settings and data about learners relates to the school they normally belong to. Data is only collected from international schools as an ordinary educational setting. It is not currently possible to provide any data about non-formal education as defined by ISCED. The present Education Act (2010:800) is very restrictive regarding home education. Children/learners who are too ill to attend school can receive schooling in their home or in hospital for a longer period. This is very rare: in the 2018/2019 school year, 385 learners (ISCED 1 and ISCED 2) had schooling at home or in hospital.
Placement in a mainstream class implies over 50% or more. For half the time or more, the children/learners are educated according to the special programmes curriculum when educated in mainstream classes. Data about children/learners in special programmes is collected as grouped data and integration has to be measured in the same way for all children/learners. This proxy indicates that the children/learners spend more time in mainstream settings than in segregated settings. There is always uncertainty in grouped data, for example the risk of double registration of children/learners. Another difficulty may be for the person reporting the data to know exactly whether the child/learner has a placement in a class that implies 50% or more.
In Sweden, all learners have access to mainstream compulsory school. It is a parental choice not to attend a mainstream school. They have to actively apply for access to SEN schools.
There is a difference between education in SEN decided schools and SEN decided Action programmes. The Action programme can be used in mainstream, special schools and special programmes. One decided action can be education in a separate group or in resource unit for special educational needs. This can be in another school or a central municipality resource unit. The learners in these groups always keep their original home school placement. The main focus, however, is that actions should take place with their regular peers by adjusting the learning environment. This is the first year Sweden has reported on the Action programme. Before we have delivered data on placement only. This means that comparison over years and with other countries may be difficult.