In addition to academic attainment and other wider learning (e.g. personal, social), achievement may be shown through increasing confidence, using a broader range of learning strategies, more active participation, increased social skills, wider competences, access to further study and employment.

According to the Agency’s Position on Inclusive Education Systems, ‘raised achievement for learners encompasses all forms of personal, social and academic attainments that will be relevant for the individual learner in the short term, while enhancing their life chances in the long term’ (European Agency, 2015a, p. 2).

(See also ‘Attainment’)

The highest ISCED level of education an individual has successfully completed. This is usually measured with respect to the highest education programme successfully completed which is typically certified by a recognised qualification. Recognised intermediate qualifications are classified at a lower level than the programme itself (UNESCO/UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012, p. 79).

(See also ‘Achievement’)

Awareness raising campaigns can be defined as organised communication activities which aim to create awareness on particular topics (health, environment, education), behavioural change among the general population and to improve the focus on better outcomes (better health, greater environmental protection, reduced early school leaving). They often take the form of mass media campaigns.

Messages can be conveyed through many different channels, such as mass media (television, radio), social media, public relations, events, talks, demonstrations, tours and leaflets.

Awareness raising campaigns are recognised as the most efficient and effective means of communicating information especially to the general public. Still, not all of them are effective in terms of influencing people’s beliefs and changing their behaviour (Masiulienė, Looney, Aertgeerts and de Greef, no date, p. 4).
 

Capacity building refers to the process of developing and strengthening mainstream schools’ capacity to meet all learners’ needs, rather than distributing additional resources for learners with additional support needs. This process involves increasing the knowledge and skills of all education professionals (i.e. leaders, teachers and specialist staff) and enhancing collaborative practices within schools and across local communities. The ultimate aim is to transform teaching and learning and improve learner outcomes.

‘The act of forming an opinion of the amount, value or quality of something after thinking about it carefully’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries).

A systematic and objective assessment of an on-going or completed project, programme or policy, its design, implementation and results.

Evaluation focuses on the macro level, considering the context of learning and related factors. Assessment measures learning at the micro or learner level and is one element of evaluation. Evaluation should inform next steps and on-going improvement. 

An evaluation (work) plan should specify what will be evaluated, how and when, together with the evaluation design, practices, and procedures to use in conducting the evaluation.

‘A discourse or set of methods which informs the policy process, rather than aiming to directly affect’ the goals of the policy (Sutcliffe and Court, 2005, p. iii).

Davies (1999) has defined evidence-based policy-making as an approach which ‘helps people make well informed decisions about policies, programmes and projects by putting the best available evidence at the heart of policy development and implementation’ (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2017, p. 6).

Evidence-based policy is public policy informed by rigorously established objective evidence. Across policy areas, the use of strong evidence to choose policy interventions, prioritise funding and implement policies/programmes enhances the likelihood of positive outcomes (Duke University, 2009).

‘An education that promotes mutual respect and value for all persons and builds educational environments in which the approach to learning, the institutional culture and the curriculum reflect the value of diversity’ (UNESCO, 2020a, p. 420).

The Agency views inclusive education as ‘a systemic approach to providing high quality education in mainstream schools that effectively meets the academic and social learning needs of all the learners from the school’s local community’ (European Agency, 2015, p. 2).

Inclusive education supposes a real change at both policy and practice levels regarding education. Learners are placed at the centre of a system that needs to be able to recognise, accept and respond to learner diversity. Inclusive education aims to respond to the principles of efficiency, equality and equity, where diversity is perceived as an asset. Learners also need to be prepared to engage in society, to access meaningful citizenship and to acknowledge the values of human rights, freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination (Soriano, Watkins and Ebersold, 2017, p. 6).

An indicator is defined as a parameter, or a value derived from a parameter, which aims to provide information about the state of a phenomenon. Indicators can provide a systemic approach to evaluation, useful for complex areas, such as education when longer-term outcomes are important and the work does not correspond to a straightforward input-output or linear model. Numbers or statistics are not necessarily required and indicators can highlight the relationship between different components. Indicators are a dynamic system with explicit values that will differ according to the cultural context and project elements.

Learners vulnerable to exclusion encompasses all learners whose educational experience is ‘impacted upon by a number of pressures, forces, levers, discriminations and disadvantages’ (European Agency, 2021b, p. 6). These learners may or may not fall into categories of special needs and a special type of provision may or may not be available to support them (European Agency, 2022c, p. 34).

Meaningful participation occurs when learners and their families have the opportunity to express their views, influence decision-making and achieve change in areas that affect their lives.

Their respective opinions must be sought, listened to, valued, promoted and shared in planning, in decision-making and in practice, to include shared opportunities for feedback and further input. Those who were previously unheard or overlooked must be engaged in interactive dialogue with others in more powerful positions than themselves. Such participatory approaches are fundamental to the development, implementation and sustainability of inclusive organisations and education systems (European Agency, 2022d, p. 13).

Mental health is influenced by many factors, including genetic predisposition, socio-economic background, adverse childhood experiences, chronic medical conditions or abuse of alcohol or drugs.

Therefore, mental health and well-being are interlinked issues that are affected by policies and actions in a range of sectors, including education, health, employment, social inclusion and efforts to tackle poverty.

This relationship is reciprocal: without adequate mental health prevention, support and treatment, the risks of poorer education or unemployment increase.

To be mentally healthy means being capable of self-realisation, being at ease when forming the relationships with other people, to contribute to the life in the community and being productive at work. A mentally healthy individual is also able to overcome normal tensions, sorrows and life setbacks (European Commission, no date).

Mental health is explicitly included in the Sustainable Development Goals, ‘providing an opportunity to enhance mental health and well-being across countries and professional disciplines’ (Dybdahl and Lien, 2017, p. 1).

(See also ‘Well-being’)

‘Watching, checking something over a period of time to see how it develops, so that necessary changes can be made’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries).

The process of systematically tracking aspects of education/school ‘implementation, with a view toward data collection, accountability and/or enhancing effectiveness and/or quality’ (OECD, 2015, p. 235).

A monitoring framework should be designed to monitor quality at different levels (country, region, schools) and for different groups (school authorities, teachers, learners). It should ‘draw on a number of different tools and components to collect and organize data needed to monitor a system’s performance’. This includes tools at the school level for data on learners and teachers, ‘national education management information systems (EMIS), human resource or teacher management information systems for teacher recruitment and deployment, inspection and appraisal systems, and financial management systems’. The framework may also include system-level learner evaluations.

Monitoring may include compliance monitoring, diagnostic monitoring and performance monitoring, which may all co-exist within the system (UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, 2021).

UNICEF describes participation as:

… an ongoing process of children’s expression and active involvement in decision-making at different levels in matters that concern them, requiring information-sharing and dialogue between children/adolescents and adults based on mutual respect, and … [requiring] that full consideration of their views be given, taking into account the child’s age and maturity (2013, p. 7).

Like educational inclusion, participation is often seen as a human rights issue and an essential component of social justice (European Agency, 2011).

Participation is about the quality of the learning experience from a learner perspective, and therefore it must incorporate the views of the learners themselves. … It relates to school-level process factors which facilitate or hinder a sense of belonging and a sense of autonomy to the learner, as well as a sense of a meaningful participation with peers of the same age. As such, participation mainly refers to processes at the meso (school or classroom) and micro (individual learner) levels (Ramberg and Watkins, 2020, p. 90).

(See also ‘Meaningful participation’)

Policy refers to a stated course or principle of action that is either adopted or proposed in order to meet goals, aims and objectives. It is written in official documents to direct the implementation of agreed actions.

Policy and legislation are connected, but distinct. Legislation outlines the requirements and policy then details the framework for ensuring that the requirements are put into action. The implementation of actions then needs to be guided by supporting policy documents (rules, guidelines, guidance materials, etc.).

‘Connected with what something is like or how good it is, rather than with how much of it there is’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries).

Qualitative research is an iterative process that aims to improve understanding by getting close to the phenomenon studied. It explores issues of ‘why’ and ‘how’ by analysing information, often in the form of words (e.g. notes from observations/interviews), pictures, videos or objects rather than statistics. This type of research involves interpreting events. It may be more subjective, producing data that is less readily generalised.

Resilience is the ability to prepare for, work through, respond to and mitigate unforeseen challenges.

Challenges may damage individuals, institutions and communities, but they also create opportunities to rebuild from a stronger base, and even reach a higher level of operation. Resilience does not just mean survival and recovery; it means thriving in a new reality (Brende and Sternfels, 2022) and operating proactively rather than reactively.

The field of education must be sensitive to individual, community and societal challenges both within and outside the system. Here, resilience refers to the ability to find solutions to these challenges, adapting to new situations by organising, planning and implementing educational processes.

A process which ensures that those at risk of poverty and social exclusion gain the opportunities and resources necessary to participate fully in economic, social and cultural life and to enjoy a standard of living and well-being that is considered normal in the society in which they live. Social inclusion also ensures that vulnerable groups and persons have greater participation in decision making which affects their lives and access to their fundamental rights (European Union, 2019, p. 9).

In every country, some groups confront barriers that prevent them from fully participating in political, economic, and social life. These groups may be excluded not only through legal systems, land, and labor markets, but also discriminatory or stigmatizing attitudes, beliefs, or perceptions. Disadvantage is often based on social identity, which may be across dimensions of gender, age, location, occupation, race, ethnicity, religion, citizenship status, disability, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), among other factors. This kind of social exclusion robs individuals of dignity, security, and the opportunity to lead a better life. Unless the root causes of structural exclusion and discrimination are addressed, it will be challenging to support sustainable inclusive growth and rapid poverty reduction (World Bank, no date).

‘Voices’ means the values, opinions, beliefs, views and perspectives of learners and their families. It also refers to the degree to which these are considered, included, listened to and acted upon when important decisions that affect their lives are being made at local (school), regional (district) or national level. The term ‘voices’ (as opposed to ‘voice’) implies that learners and families are not considered as homogenous groups, but as unique individuals who are treated as equal and valuable members of the discussions.

The notion of well-being incorporates a person’s quality of life. It is, at the same time, a multidimensional concept (OECD, 2020b) with a social and economic dimension, a psychological and mental health dimension, a philosophical dimension and an educational dimension (Mashford-Scott, Church and Taylor, 2012). It includes a sociological focus on external living conditions, a psychological and public health focus on person-related indicators, such as self-efficacy or self-esteem, and a focus on subjective experiences and subjective feelings of happiness or satisfaction.

Well-being is close to the notion of ‘good life’, which refers to a person’s quality of life, and not the quantity of skills they have acquired. It is about enjoying ‘being’, judged by what it brings in the life of others, and the capacity to derive joy from life, which everyone can achieve (Kittay, 2019).

Well-being depends on culture, historical circumstances, socio-economic class and other variables, which illustrate the differences in how well-being is conceived. The notion of well-being has been reshaped during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to mental and emotional health, among other things.

In a rights-based approach, children can be active participants in defining their well-being and the ways to achieve it (European Agency, 2021b, p. 103).

(See also ‘Mental health’)