The Impact of Achievement for All (AfA) on outcomes for pupils with Special Educational Needs in England – lessons for policy and practice

This presentation will explore the main findings and key implications of our national evaluation of the Achievement for All (AfA) programme. The aim of AfA is to improve a range of outcomes for learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It was piloted in more than 450 schools across 10 Local Authorities in England from 2009-2011. There were three main strands: (1) Assessment, tracking and intervention, (2) Structured conversations with parents,and (3) Provision for developing wider outcomes (attendance, behaviour, bullying, positive relationships and wider participation). The main aims of our national evaluation were to examine the impact of AfA on a variety of outcomes for learners with SEND, and to find out what implementation processes and practices were most effective in improving those outcomes. We used a research design that incorporated quantitative and qualitative components. The quantitative component, which yielded data on over 4,000 students, focused primarily upon impact and consisted of teacher surveys, parent surveys, attendance and academic attainment data, and school level surveys/data. In some of our analyses (e.g. academic attainment) we were able to compare data for students in AfA schools to national averages for students with and without SEND. In other analyses (e.g. behaviour) were able to compare data for learners in AfA schools to those in comparison schools. The qualitative component of the research focused primarily on implementation and included longitudinal case studies of 20 AfA schools (including case profiles of students in each school). Our findings indicated that AfA had a significant impact upon both academic and wider (e.g. behaviour, positive relationships) outcomes. Effect sizes ranged from small to very large, but in all cases were of a magnitude likely to be practically meaningful. These positive outcomes were mediated by a range of implementation processes and practices, including fidelity and dosage of structured conversations with parents, and the frequency of teacher and parent involvement in reviewing academic targets.