Entry Testing and the Overrepresentation of Romani ... - UR Research

R5EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis policy paper examines many of the ways in which Romani children from Central and South Eastern Europe aresegregated from their non-Romani peers and placed in special education. The focus of this paper is on schoolreadiness assessments (school entry testing) in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, by which children’sentry to school is delayed, they are streamed into preparatory or transition classes in special schools, or they areplaced in special education classrooms or schools. This paper examines the link between such testing and theoverrepresentation of Romani children in special education. The document also presents international good practice inthe use of assessments for integrating rather than segregating children in order to address the individual educationalneeds of different pupils while mapping some potential directions for change in Central and South Eastern Europe.SCHOOL READINESS ASSESSMENT AND ITS USESA child is typically considered to be ready to attend school when he or she exhibits developmental maturity in hisor her social, cognitive, and physical abilities considered necessary for success in school. When such maturity ismeasured on the basis of standardized assessments, the burden of proof is on the child; the child must demonstratehis or her readiness to attend school, but the school does not have to prove its readiness to accept the child andhelp him or her to develop needed skills. A central irony of entry testing is that the very children who would benefitthe most from early school experiences may be denied those experiences on the basis of their test results.Assessment at the time of enrollment in primary education generally serves at least one of two purposes: diagnosingdisability and facilitating the inclusion of children in mainstream education. In most countries, including the CzechRepublic, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, assessment procedures are designed primarily to serve the first purpose.Based on a medical model of disability, these procedures result in the assignment to children of permanentdisability labels.Whereas nearly all countries use findings from assessments for diagnosing special educational needs requiringadditional resources, a much smaller proportion of countries also make use of assessment data for facilitatinginclusion of children in mainstream education through education plans or other strategies that take into accountchildren’s strengths and weaknesses as individual learners. Among countries in this group are Finland, France,Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In all of these countries, the presumption of relevantlegislation is that educational services for all children ought to be provided in standard schools and classrooms.Additionally, Finland, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have abolished disability categories, effectivelyreplacing a diagnostic approach to assessment with a formative one.