§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what arrangements he has made to disseminate to local education authorities and schools best practice in the handling of specific learning difficulties(a) in special facilities and (b) alongside other pupils. [101466]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Action Programme, published in response to the Green Paper "Excellence for all children: Meeting special educational needs", promotes the inclusion of children with special educational needs within mainstream schooling wherever possible, while recognising the continuing need for special schools for some children. Section 14 of the Education Act 1996 requires local education authorities to have regard to the need for securing that special educational provision is made to these pupils. This duty gives the local education authority a role to decide the organisation of provision to suit the needs of the individual child. The Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs which came into effect on 1 September 1994 provides guidance to help identify and assess children who have specific learning difficulties. The Code is currently being revised to strengthen and improve the guidance and provide examples of best practice.
Raising educational standards lies at the very heart of our education policy. This must include children with special educational needs (SEN) whether in mainstream or special schools. To support provision for SEN pupils the Department has taken a number of steps. For example it has provided a grant to the British Dyslexia Association to help them develop the "Achieving Dyslexia Friendly Schools" resource pack which seeks to demonstrate that it is possible to meet the needs of children with mild to moderate dyslexia in a mainstream classroom. Two copies of this pack have been sent to all local education authorities in England. Also the Department has funded and made available the findings of three research projects on inclusion:
Effective Practice in Inclusion, and in Special and Mainstream Schools Working Together", Manchester University (Published February 1999)Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Mainstream Schools", Birmingham University (Published January 1999)Cost and Outcomes for Pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties in Special and Mainstream Schools", Newcastle University (Published November 1999).509W In addition we will be producing examples of good effective links from our Working Group on Special and Mainstream schools in the summer term 2000.