Agency eBulletin October 2022

This eBulletin presents new Agency publications, including a new report examining inclusive digital education and blended learning. The Voices into Action Literature Review examines the critical issue of how to effectively include the voices of learners and their families in decision-making. The final outputs from the Changing Role of Specialist Provision activity aim to enable education policy- and decision-makers to develop a continuum of support for inclusive education.

The newsletter also presents the results of an activity to design a monitoring system for the implementation of Portugal’s law on inclusive education.

Finally, it brings news of the Agency’s updated glossary of definitions and provides details of the Agency’s new LinkedIn page, where you can follow weekly Agency updates. 

Agency examination of inclusive digital education

The Agency’s Inclusive Digital Education (IDE) activity examines new priorities and demands in relation to inclusive digital education and blended learning. Focusing on recent international literature, conferences and projects, the activity aims to provide policy-makers with information and recommendations and identify areas that need further investigation.

The activity’s main Inclusive Digital Education report gives an overall picture of the desk research results. It describes inclusive digital education themes and trends across Europe, as well as issues remaining to be tackled. It also considers issues of vulnerability and exclusion, which can be both reduced and exacerbated by the increased use of digital solutions in education.

A Policy Brief, which outlines the key messages from the report, is also available.

For more information on the IDE report and associated publications, see the news page.

Voices into Action Literature Review

The Agency’s Voices into Action (VIA) activity examines the critical issue of how to effectively include the voices of learners and their families in decision-making. It aims to promote a more participatory culture in relevant processes and activities at local, regional and national levels.

To begin the VIA work, desk research was undertaken to understand why and how to engage learners and their families in decision-making processes. The resulting Literature Review provides key evidence on meaningful ways to involve learner and family voices in educational decision-making. It summarises important European and international policy information on the topic and sets out key research knowledge from the past 20 years.

For more information, visit the VIA web area.

The Changing Role of Specialist Provision

The Agency has published the final outputs from its Changing Role of Specialist Provision (CROSP) project, which focused on re-organising specialist provision to support inclusive education for all learners.

The Policy Self-Review Tool aims to enable education policy- and decision-makers to reflect and develop a continuum of support for inclusive education. It is available as an open-source Word file, which allows users to adapt it to their own national contexts.

The Final Synthesis Report provides an overview of the project. It describes the situation and trends in Agency member countries in relation to specialist provision, and presents the project’s methodology and key findings. The Final Summary Report presents the key messages in a short, graphic format.

The CROSP web area contains more information on the project activities and outputs.

New system to monitor the impact of Portugal’s inclusive education law

The results of an activity to design a monitoring system for the implementation of Portugal’s law on inclusive education were presented at a meeting on 1 July. The Agency developed the monitoring system in collaboration with the Portuguese Ministry of Education and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).

Education authorities across Portugal will use the monitoring system to assess education policy and offer recommendations and support to schools. In addition, the Agency and DG REFORM will use lessons learned during the activity in a forthcoming multi-country project with the Ministries of Education in Portugal, Spain and Italy. Read more about the monitoring system and the meeting on the news pages.
 

Participants watch Director-General Mario Nava on screen via video link.