Targeted interventions add five months’ progress for students with SEND

Targeted interventions can raise overall educational outcomes for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by an average of five months, compared to teaching-as-usual or standard interventions, finds a report by UCL researchers.

Students with SEND, such as dyslexia, often have lower educational outcomes compared to their peers and require additional support, either in mainstream classrooms or schools that cater for special educational needs. On average, students with SEND are at least two years behind by the end of secondary school.

In England, the number of students diagnosed with SEND has increased in recent years. As of July 2024, 1.67 million children (18.4%) have some kind of special educational need, up from 17.3% in 2023—an increase of over 100,000. This rise is thought to be down to various factors, including greater awareness of SEND and reforms to the diagnostic system.

In the study, published by the UCL Center for Educational Neuroscience, researchers found that targeted interventions had a slightly bigger effect on mathematics than reading overall— six months of additional progress compared to five months by the end of secondary school, with interventions being delivered from primary school onward.

When looking just at primary school level, targeted interventions had a bigger effect on mathematics (eight months of progress), whereas those at secondary school level had a bigger effect on writing (12 months of progress). The team also analyzed outcomes for science and general attainment to calculate an overall average of five months of progress.

The researchers have used their findings to build a first-of its-kind database to support teachers of students with SEND. The database, MetaSENse, enables teachers to find evidence-backed targeted interventions that can raise educational outcomes for students with SEND.

Targeted interventions focus on specific difficulties for students who fail to make academic progress, despite having received high-quality teaching or taking part in catch-up groups. They provide additional instruction using targeted support, and often include a specific approach or named program.

Staff may need training to deliver these interventions—examples include Fast Forword, an adaptive reading program, or Cogmed, a tool to improve working memory and attention.

Lead author Professor Jo Van Herwegen (IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education & Society) said, “As teachers often have multiple students with different SEND needs in their classrooms, it is important to know whether certain targeted interventions can support students with different SEND needs and across different academic outcomes.

“Through interviews, we also found that education professionals have difficulty accessing research evidence or evaluating what works in their classroom, and that there is a gap between the targeted interventions that are used in classrooms and those evaluated by researchers.

“Our systematic review examined which targeted interventions have been evaluated and are effective in creating a toolkit for teachers so they can implement research-informed practices in their classrooms.”

The study comprised three phases. The researchers initially analyzed existing global research on targeted interventions for students with SEND, finding that while more research exists than previously thought, there are gaps relating to subjects and types of SEND.

Most research on SEND teaching outcomes focuses on reading, with fewer studies looking at writing, math or science. About half of the 467 studies identified focused on dyslexia and dyscalculia (mathematical difficulties). Most were from the U.S., with just 21 studies from the U.K.

The researchers are calling for funders and academics to invest in a more balanced evidence base, including research covering intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities, to help address this. It is one of a number of policy recommendations contained in the report.

Professor Van Herwegen added, “We found that there is more good-quality evidence available than we anticipated. However, there is a lack of research on what works for students with intellectual and physical disabilities, as well as sensory disabilities such as vision and hearing impairments.

“This means that while we have some evidence on what works for dyslexic and dyscalculic students, for students with other needs it is unclear how they can be supported in the classroom.”

The second phase involved in-depth interviews with 33 educational professionals including teachers, SEND coordinators and psychologists from primary and secondary mainstream and special schools to understand their experiences and explore the barriers they face in implementing effective teaching practices for students with SEND.

For the third phase, the researchers produced an online toolkit and the MetaSENse database, which launches on 19 September and will be available for educational professionals across England.

The team also made several policy recommendations to improve educational outcomes for students with SEND:

• Funders and academics should invest in a more balanced evidence base, including research covering intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities
• There should be more opportunities for collaboration between researchers and teachers
• Teachers should have more training on evaluating available research to implement best practice in classrooms
• Policymakers should establish a new national database on the effectiveness of SEND interventions.

Dr. Jeremy Monsen, Principal Educational and Child Psychologist, WKC Educational Psychology Consultation Service, said, “I am very mindful of the need to have an up-to-date rigorous evidence base on what interventions actually work for children and young people beyond universal practice.

“MetaSENse will provide a very useful handbook for not only policymakers and teachers but also applied practitioners like educational psychologists.”

MetaSENse will launch on 19 September 2024.