Abstract
In 2009, Brian Lamb carried out an inquiry into provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities in schools. He found that one-fifth of the most vulnerable learners are being failed by a system that needs to do far more to enhance their life chances. In light of these concerns, the Achievement for All (AfA) initiative was conceived as a vehicle to improve the educational outcomes for this key group of learners. The book Achievement for All provides practical guidance and support for leaders in schools considering taking part in the initiative. It also makes an original contribution to knowledge in the field of educational leadership by calling for a whole school approach to inclusive education lead by committed senior leaders and distributed amongst teaching staff at all levels.
The authors argue that this approach is necessary in order for leaders to share the vision of AfA with everyone in the school community and beyond. This vision involves enhancing the aspirations, access and achievement of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged learners. In order to achieve this ambition, the authors then describe how AfA is based on four key elements, each underpinned by high quality research into inclusive practice including: educational leadership; teaching and learning; parental involvement; and broader educational outcomes for children.
Educational leadership is the first key element of AfA and is central to its success. Case study evidence is drawn upon to suggest that AfA has its most successful outcomes in schools driven by committed senior leadership teams who buy into the AfA vision. These inclusive leaders: have vision; communicate this vision effectively with staff, parents and pupils in the school community and beyond; collaborate effectively with all relevant individuals; and commit themselves to achieving goals for their most vulnerable learners. Leaders at all levels, rather than inclusion managers alone, need to drive AfA because it is a whole school endeavour as part of which cultural values and practices may need to change. Thus, the leadership required may need to be transformational depending on the success of current inclusive practices in schools.
The second element of AfA is effective teaching and learning which needs to be monitored and evaluated rigorously by inclusive leaders. The authors review literature on formative assessment arguing that academic outcomes for disadvantaged learners can be enhanced by leaders rigorously analysing data and identifying priorities for improvement. In the classroom these improvements are made by leaders ensuring that teachers set challenging but achievable goals for these pupils, ask better questions, provide task-involving feedback and involve pupils in the learning process through self-assessment.
Perhaps the authors could have also mentioned peer assessment as a tool to actively engage vulnerable learners and provide them with the skills to self-assess their work further on. Furthermore, given the importance of AfL in developing inclusive leaders (Blandford, 2013), the authors might have also considered how summative assessments, such as tests and examinations, can be used in a formative way so these leaders identify where gaps in knowledge and understanding lie for such pupils. These gaps can then be addressed through quality first teaching. Such an addition to this section of the book may further strengthen the already convincing evidence underpinning this element of the initiative.
The third aspect of AfA is parental involvement since effective inclusive leaders collaborate and communicate effectively with parents in the school community. The authors review studies which point towards the positive impact of parental involvement and engagement in children’s learning. Structured conversations are then advocated as a way of encouraging parents to engage with their children’s learning. These conversations are a major success of the AfA initiative since they enable leaders and teachers in schools to understand more about vulnerable children in their care and decide how best to provide for them. Given that the authors make such a compelling argument for the use of these conversations, it would have also been useful to have had several examples of these included as appendices for leaders when delivering in service training for staff focusing on inclusive practice.
The final element of AfA focuses on wider educational outcomes. The authors review literature which highlights how children’s involvement in extra-curricular activities can significantly improve their achievement. In successful AfA schools, school leaders and staff ensure that extra-curricular activities, such as sports and breakfast clubs, target vulnerable learners in order for the programme to have impact. This section of the book also includes case studies highlighting how attendance, behaviour and pupil welfare can be enhanced by leaders and teachers focusing on wider outcomes for these children.
Within each section of the book, focusing on different elements of the AfA programme, case studies are drawn upon to illustrate the points made and to verify some of the previous research findings reviewed in each chapter. Details of the context of each primary, secondary or special school case study are provided so that school leaders can judge the relevance of findings for their settings too. The authors also pose tasks and questions to encourage educational leaders to consider how inclusive practice could be developed in their settings too. For example, ‘In … your school, list the changes you would make to become more inclusive’ (p. 33) or ‘How could you improve the extra-curricular opportunities you provide for children with SEND…?’ (p. 103).
Thus the key advantage of AfA is that it is tailored to meet the needs and requirements of schools and the learners that attend them. Quantitative data are also used to provide the reader with evidence of academic outcomes of AfA. For instance, pupils in AfA schools make ‘accelerated progress’ (p. 131). Overall this book is therefore an engaging read for school leaders who aim to transform the aspirations, access and achievement for children in our schools identified as having special educational needs and disabilities, being looked after or socially disadvantaged. At present, this is particularly important in the context of the new Ofsted framework which rigorously scrutinises how school leaders ensure that our most vulnerable and disadvantaged learners make good to outstanding progress in relation to their starting points.