Ethnic disproportionality in the identification of Special Educational Needs (SEN): A national longitudinal cohort age 5-11 Seminar

What is your talk about? The talk presents the results of a recent DFE-ESRC funded study into ethnic disproportionality in the identification of SEN in England. The results reveal substantial ethnic disproportionality for some SEN. For example, Black Caribbean and Mixed White and Black Caribbean pupils are twice as likely to be identified with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties as White British pupils.  Also, Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Other Asian) pupils are only half as likely to be identified with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as White British pupils. To understand what might drive these outcomes, national administrative data are used to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the identification of SEN among over 550,000 pupils followed from age 5-11 years. Survival analysis is used to determine the Hazard Ratios (HRs) for time to first SEN identification, controlling for prior attainment and social-emotional adjustment at age 5 as well as socio-economic factors.

For some SEN, like Moderate Learning Difficulties, ethnic over-representation can be accounted for by greater exposure to early risk factors. However, for SEMH and ASD the disproportionalities remain large even after adjusting for age 5 covariates. Both cultural factors and school processes that may contribute to disproportionality are discussed.

If you interested in attending one of these seminars, please email EducationFOS@soton.ac.uk.