Modelling the effects of the inclusion of pupils with additional support needs (ASN) on attainment and attendance in primary schools

Abstract

This thesis applies methods from social statistics to answer the question as to whether pupils with support needs that are additional to those that can be catered for by mainstream educational provision (i.e. pupils with English languages needs or those with Special Educational Needs), exert an effect on the attainment and attendance of their classmates during the second half of primary schooling in England. Including such pupils within mainstream schools has been the dominant policy paradigm since the 1980s, though the effect on other pupils has not been comprehensively assessed, despite being of concern to parents, teachers and policymakers.The main findings of this thesis are:- The effect on pupil attainment of peers with Special Educational Needs, and, to a lesser extent, peers with English language needs, is heterogeneous by a pupil's own prior attainment. Pupils at the higher end of the prior attainment distribution experience the largest negative effects from such pupils. Such heterogeneity is predicted by theory and this thesis represents the first demonstration of these effects on pupils in England, refining and updating existing research. The size of these effects are however small relative to other influences on a pupil's attainment.- Peers with Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties have a stronger negative effect on classmates' attainment than do other ASN peer types. This supports the theory that classroom disruption may be a mechanism by which peer effects in schools operate. This finding concurs with studies from the USA and is consistent with concerns of the teaching profession with regard to the inclusion of such pupils within schools.- Peers with Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties are also found to induce absenteeism in their classmates, but only where the classmates are in receipt of free schools meals, a common proxy for low household income. This finding represents one of the first quantitative analyses of pupil absence in England and contributes to a very small but growing literature on non-academic outcomes within schools.The findings have implications for debates on inclusion of ASN pupils within schools and provide evidence of why educational inequalities are present in the English schools system.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Ian Plewis (Supervisor) & Tarani Chandola (Supervisor)