Education Theses

Educational attainment can be considered one of the overarching goals of the education system. For pupils with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities (MPID), there is a dearth of research on the conceptualisation and assessment of attainment. This doctoral research aimed to address the limited research available in this area. The first paper of this thesis, a systematic literature review, provides an overview of the theoretical frameworks and measures used to assess attainment for pupils with MPID in the research literature. The second paper, a qualitative empirical study, explores how attainment is conceptualised and assessed by seven school staff and two parents, in a special school setting in Ireland. The facilitators and barriers to assessment were also explored. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis (TA) highlighted participants’ understanding of attainment as a holistic concept as well as the importance of time and relationship in the assessment process, and the systemic challenges in accessing therapeutic supports and creating a consistent whole-school approach to assessment. Implications for the role of educational psychologists in supporting pupils with MPID are outlined.

This thesis examines the question of how best to support EAL children in schools, teachers’ experiences of the support factor that are most effective and the impact these identified support factors have on reading attainment outcomes for EAL children in Irish primary schools. The systematic literature review aimed to synthesize existing qualitative literature in the area of teachers’ perceptions and experiences of supporting EAL children in their mainstream primary classrooms. The review identified five overarching themes: specific vocabulary instruction; multimodal instruction; peer support; use of translation; and making the child feel valued. The empirical research used secondary data analysis from a large, nationally representative sample of Irish primary school children to examine reading outcomes for EAL children in 2nd Class. Out of the five previous support variables identified, three were deemed possible to analyse based on data availability: receiving learning support, peer support and teacher attitudes to inclusion. A regression analysis found that EAL children had poorer reading outcomes compared to non-EAL children, and teacher attitudes to inclusion was associated with better reading outcomes for all children but did not moderate the EAL-achievement relationship. Perceived peer support was not associated with better reading outcomes and receiving additional support was not found to act as a moderator. Limitations and implications for practice of both studies are discussed.