The relationship between educational psychologists’ assessments and the allocation of provision to children with special educational needs

Abstract

There is a wealth of discussion on the nature of psychological assessments within the educational psychology profession. However, little attention has been directed on how these are actually used by their consumers and how such research can inform the development of assessment methods. This study investigates the relationship between the psychometric and educational attainment assessments within educational psychologists’ reports and the actual provision specified on the Statements of Special Educational Needs issued by local education authorities during statutory assessment procedures. A discriminant function analysis was applied to data drawn from educational psychologists operating in both rural and urban areas. This indicated that decision-makers within the ‘Statementing’ procedures appear to attach more significance to cognitive ability and handwriting assessments in contrast to other educational attainments when evaluating the development of children with special educational needs. This has implications for the levels of provision allocated to meet such needs. The insignificance of the date these decisions were made were also findings of the study. It is hoped that this research will contribute to the long debate on the nature of educational psychologists’ assessments and their report writing by investigating their practical effects on decision-making.