Page 297 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 297
learning difficulties and esl
that subsequently lead to ESL (Riccomini, Bost, Katsiyannis, & Zhang,
2005; Cobb, Sample, Alwell, & Johns, 2005).
A prevention programme called “Check and Connect” is a compre-
hensive prevention programme designed to enhance students’ engagement
at school and has also been successful among students with disabilities and
learning difficulties. The “Check” component uses consistent monitoring
of students at risk of dropout (e.g. course failures, tardiness, missed classes,
absenteeism, detention and suspension) and then the “Connect” compo-
nent involves programme staff giving individualised attention to students
in partnership with other school staff, family members and the communi-
ty through academic support, in-depth problem-solving, and coordination
with community services (Institute of Education Sciences, 2015).
Some interventions also tackle approaches for specific learning diffi-
culties. For example, based on their findings Korhonen et al. (2014) sug-
gest interventions for students with learning difficulties in mathematics
that target both skills and the academic self-concept of students. Such an
approach is Schema Broadening Instruction (i.e. Fuchs et al., 2009) which
incorporates elements (praise, feedback) that aim to enhance the specific
or general academic self-concept of students. Instruction based on schema
theory encourages students to develop a schema for each problem type but
also teachers need to be shown how to formulate such instruction.
Analyses of these approaches also confirm that students with learning
difficulties are in need of receiving additional and specific academic sup-
port and simultaneously the support that tackles their self-concept (both
general and academic) and motivation. Many forms of interventions are
likely to be effective, although the quality of implementation and sensitivi-
ty to specific individual (or local) circumstances are important.
Conclusion
Students with special educational needs and learning difficulties are more
likely than their peers without learning difficulties to experience low lev-
els of engagement, or to experience rapid decreases in engagement (Janosz
et al., 2008), they are more likely to have lower achievements (Hakkarainen
et al., 2016) and therefore are more at risk for ESL (European Agency, 2016).
But ESL is a complex phenomenon and other factors are also interrelat-
ed, such as family, SES, ethnicity, school support etc., which should all
be considered when planning an intervention for a student with learning
297
that subsequently lead to ESL (Riccomini, Bost, Katsiyannis, & Zhang,
2005; Cobb, Sample, Alwell, & Johns, 2005).
A prevention programme called “Check and Connect” is a compre-
hensive prevention programme designed to enhance students’ engagement
at school and has also been successful among students with disabilities and
learning difficulties. The “Check” component uses consistent monitoring
of students at risk of dropout (e.g. course failures, tardiness, missed classes,
absenteeism, detention and suspension) and then the “Connect” compo-
nent involves programme staff giving individualised attention to students
in partnership with other school staff, family members and the communi-
ty through academic support, in-depth problem-solving, and coordination
with community services (Institute of Education Sciences, 2015).
Some interventions also tackle approaches for specific learning diffi-
culties. For example, based on their findings Korhonen et al. (2014) sug-
gest interventions for students with learning difficulties in mathematics
that target both skills and the academic self-concept of students. Such an
approach is Schema Broadening Instruction (i.e. Fuchs et al., 2009) which
incorporates elements (praise, feedback) that aim to enhance the specific
or general academic self-concept of students. Instruction based on schema
theory encourages students to develop a schema for each problem type but
also teachers need to be shown how to formulate such instruction.
Analyses of these approaches also confirm that students with learning
difficulties are in need of receiving additional and specific academic sup-
port and simultaneously the support that tackles their self-concept (both
general and academic) and motivation. Many forms of interventions are
likely to be effective, although the quality of implementation and sensitivi-
ty to specific individual (or local) circumstances are important.
Conclusion
Students with special educational needs and learning difficulties are more
likely than their peers without learning difficulties to experience low lev-
els of engagement, or to experience rapid decreases in engagement (Janosz
et al., 2008), they are more likely to have lower achievements (Hakkarainen
et al., 2016) and therefore are more at risk for ESL (European Agency, 2016).
But ESL is a complex phenomenon and other factors are also interrelat-
ed, such as family, SES, ethnicity, school support etc., which should all
be considered when planning an intervention for a student with learning
297
