Abstract
This book, written for those committed to improving outcomes for all children, explores the ‘Achievement for All’ framework and the ‘3As principles: Aspiration, Access and Achievement’. Achievement for All practice is described, in the words of the author, as a philosophy sustained by a moral purpose. In the book, Blandford provides an overview of the development, introduction, implementation and evaluation of the Achievement for All framework in England, Wales, Lithuania, Norway and the US, and the 3As principles in Lithuania, Latvia and South Korea.
The framework is made up of four elements (leadership, teaching and learning, parent and carer engagement, wider outcomes and opportunities) and three principles: the 3As (Aspiration, Access and Achievement). Designed to be a highly collaborative, whole-school approach to culture change, it is aimed at raising student expectations and outcomes. The programme of change plays out through effective strategy planning which is operationalized through shared ownership. An initial gap analysis identifies where change should happen. It is this gap analysis that gives the framework and ensuing programme development its bespoke nature.
Divided into 7 parts and written for Education students, practitioners and policymakers, the book offers an insight into the outcomes when change is embraced in a variety of contexts. The first part of the book, An International Issue: Bringing Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) back into the classroom, sets the context in which the framework and principles were developed. Part 1 introduces the Achievement for All framework and the 3As principles, describing the framework and its merits as an effective model for inclusion in the context of school improvement. Part 2 describes the introduction of the framework into schools in England and Wales. Leadership for inclusion is the focus in Part 3, which considers the Time for Leaders project developed in Lithuania. The reader is taken to Norway in Part 4, where the focus moves from the framework elements of leadership to teaching and learning. Parental engagement, the third element of the framework, is the focus in Part 5 where the context is the US and the collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and a parental engagement team. The evidence compiled by the Johns Hopkins University collaboration is considered in Part 6. The final part of the book considers policy and practice in relation to the findings collected from the projects featured.
Blandford argues that the approach to SEND needs to change, and considers how the Achievement for All framework could support this change. The framework offers schools opportunities to reflect on barriers to learning in their own context. Through greater parental engagement, students and their parents have been seen to recognise previously unidentified barriers to learning. Findings from the schools involved in developing their Achievement for All practice illustrated how communication and pedagogy had increased participation in learning to ‘enhance the life chances of all pupils’ (p.10).
With the arguments for leadership involvement in change for inclusion well-presented, the leadership element of the framework is designed to consolidate, support and develop ‘a culture of distributed, inclusive and effective leadership throughout the school community’ (p.6). The teaching and learning element of the framework (planning and delivery, assessment and data tracking) is designed to ensure that teaching reaches a wider range of students, closes the achievement gap for students and becomes more effective at mapping holistic provision. Parent and carer engagement is an important but often overlooked aspect of developing inclusion, and the focus is on removing barriers to learning through positive and constructive partnerships to raise aspirations and achievement. In the fourth element, the student takes centre stage and the emphasis is on developing student well-being and personal resilience. Improved student engagement by teachers in conjunction with students developing more effective behaviours for learning were found to have a positive impact on school participation and school attendance.
The PwC Achievement for All monitoring and evaluation team (2011 and 2012) reported both quantitative and qualitative change. The evidence collected included increased pupil progress to close achievement gaps, fewer exclusions and improved school attendance. Qualitative evidence included a strategic focus on high-quality teaching and learning, planning and implementation, and effective monitoring and tracking. Further qualitative evidence involved the development of cultures of aspiration and engagement for students, enhanced teaching and learning, improved behaviour for learning, increased student confidence and levels of aspiration. Increased parent and carer engagement facilitated student- and parent-centred planning. The bespoke nature of the programme, argued as its unique feature, enables schools to address the needs specific to their context. Improvement on outcomes for students confirmed by a range of independent research are described by Blandford as ‘profound’ (p.31).
In summary, Achievement for All in International Classrooms: Improving Outcomes for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities represents a valuable evidence-based resource that ‘continues to be tested, challenged and questioned’. The framework reflects good practice in developing inclusion and is based on ‘in-depth interaction, dialogue, and co-construction between staff and leadership’ (p.7), the involvement of parents and carers, and the Achievement for All coaches who partner schools to support a ‘virtuous circle’ (p.8) of activity.
My disappointment that the international classrooms referred to in the title were in fact mostly national classrooms was dispelled by the wide range of contexts and players featured; two million school leaders, teachers, parents and carers, children and young people across 7 nations in a range of educational contexts. I was disappointed, too, that despite Blandford’s arguments that approaches to SEND need to change the use of terminology and labels that have negative outcomes on pupil learning went unchallenged. While I understand that the language and terminology is that of the country where the framework was developed, there is a lost opportunity in this book to challenge the use of narratives and labels that lower expectations and do little to empower students.
A strength of the book is the range of research and evaluation methodologies employed which serves to highlight the research possibilities on offer to educational practitioners. Presenting research as case studies makes for interesting and accessible reading, and highlights the contextual nature of implementation. With practice and research presented from seven countries, the book crucially highlights just how contextual inclusion is. While Blandford’s book achieves what it sets out to do, to my mind the terminology employed does not do justice to the inclusive nature of the work and research undertaken.