The end point of Phase 1 of the Agency's Assessment in Inclusive Settings project was a discussion and then an explanation of the concept of inclusive assessment, as well as a series of recommendations for inclusive assessment policy and practice.
The goal of Phase 2 project work (2006–2008) was to develop and also go deeper into the findings from Phase 1 in order to examine how inclusive assessment can be put into practice by exploring inter-connected themes:
- supporting teachers;
- organising schools;
- methods and tools for involving different actors in the assessment processes.
Case studies
The methodology used in Phase 2 work involved project experts working in teams with the of five case study sites: school districts, or regions, clusters of schools, resource centres and the schools they worked with and not individual schools. These case study teams agreed to host visits, as well as work on aspects of their assessment practice during an intervention period. The intention was to explore in depth school level assessment practice and how this inter-related to regional and national level support structures and policy.
The visits and the work of the teams of experts led to a range of practical suggestions on the implementation of inclusive assessment. Information from the five case study sites is available from the following links:
Final project conference in Cyprus
The end point of the Assessment Phase 2 work was a major conference with more than 150 participants representing 29 countries, in Limassol, Cyprus, on 23–24 October 2008. During the meeting, experts from across Europe presented examples of their work. These and other materials are available from the dedicated page of the Assessment In Inclusive Settings Dissemination Conference web page.
Project outputs
All of the work conducted in Phase 2 of the project led to the preparation of a resource pack that presents a synthesis of information on different aspects of putting inclusive assessment into practice:
- Outline Indicators for Inclusive Assessment
- Cyprus Recommendations on Inclusive Assessment
- Assessment for Learning and Pupils with Special Educational Needs
- Implementing Inclusive Assessment
- Putting Inclusive Assessment into Practice
An extended, more in depth version of the the flyers is available in English only in the Assessment for Learning and Pupils with Special Educational Needs summary flyer.
The materials have all been prepared as a result of the Agency project Assessment in Inclusive Settings involving experts from 25 countries: Austria, the Flemish and French speaking communities of Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (England and Wales).
The aim of the materials in the resource pack is to provide practitioners and policy makers with materials and resource information exploring how assessment that supports inclusion can be implemented.