Hon Hekia Parata Minister of Education

Briefing to: Hon Hekia Parata Minister of Education

3 November 2014 1

Contents Recommendations ...... 2

Introduction ...... 3

About us ...... 4

Better together - inclusive education ...... 5

Pluralism, choice and inclusive education ...... 6

Inclusive education - Beyond principles and good intent ...... 6

The time is right for change ...... 7

Data ...... 8

OSCAR Funding ...... 9

Early childhood education ...... 10

Discrimination and barriers ...... 10

ECE Taskforce ...... 10

Referral times for the early intervention service ...... 11

Support worker funding ...... 11

Data and National Student Numbers ...... 12

Conclusion ...... 12

Bibliography ...... 13

Recommendations

CCS Disability Action recommends for primary and secondary education that: • The Ministry of Education runs a pilot programme where schools work together to form an inclusive community. • The Ministry of Education works with the Education Review Office to publish data on disabled students. • The Ministry of Education works with the Ministry of Social Development to develop realistic funding levels for disabled children accessing after school care.

CCS Disability Action recommends for early childhood education that: • The Ministry of Education implements the special education recommendations of the ECE Taskforce. • The Ministry of Education works to lower referral times for the early intervention service. • The Ministry of Education increases support worker hours to give children the best possible start in life and to enable parents to work. • The Ministry of Education uses National Student Numbers to monitor the experiences of disabled children in early childhood education.

Introduction

CCS Disability Action congratulates you on being re-appointed as Minister of Education. This briefing provides you with Our vision independent advice on education to complement the Disabled people are included in advice you receive from the Ministry of Education. the life of their community and

family. Firstly, we acknowledge the progress that has been made since our briefing in 2012. The government is carrying out work to address several of the points we raised in 2012. Key facts about disabled The government’s work has included the Inclusive children and education Education Capability Building tools, the Intensive The 2013 Disability Survey Behavioural Wraparound Service and a review of red estimates that there are 95,000 tape in special education. The Ministry of Education disabled children aged under 15 has been working with principals and boards to build (11 per cent of all children aged their understanding of inclusive education (Ministry of under 15). Education , 2013, pp. 35-36). In 2012/13, the Ministry of Your party has also announced an expansion of Education provided specialist 800,000 teacher aide hours for non On-going support to approximately 35,000 Resourcing Scheme students. children and young people with special education needs. While there has been progress with inclusive education, challenges remain. This briefing will Approximately 96% of children discuss some of those challenges. and young people with special education needs attend regular schools, although some will be in special classes.

34 per cent of disabled children live in families that earn under $50,000 a year, compared to only 24 per cent of non-disabled children.

About us

We work with over 5,000 people with disabilities and their families. Our services support disabled people to be included in the life of their family and community.

We receive a mixture of government funding and private donations. We provide services and advocacy from 16 local branches and 25 offices throughout the country. We provide early intervention services in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. We also help children and their families’ access good quality education at their local school.

Our governance has strong disabled leadership and many of our staff members identify as disabled.

Our advocacy is evidence-informed, honest and responsible.

What unites and drives our organisation is a common philosophy. We believe that the community should value and include disabled people.

Better together - inclusive education Inclusive education is where all students learn together in the same classroom. With the right attitudes and support, disabled children can grow and thrive in regular classrooms. Inclusive education is about providing support to students in regular classes – not special units or schools.

Evidence, passion and values There is firm evidence for the benefits of inclusive education for disabled students, other students and for teachers (MacArthur, 2009) (Bentley, 2010) (Peters, Inclusive education: an EFA strategy for all children, 2004) (Visser, Cole, & Daniels, 2010).

The case for inclusive education is not solely based on evidence alone, however. Inclusive education is as much about values and passion. The debate is about who we are as a society and who we want to be.

Evidence: Strong evidence supports inclusive education as providing better outcomes

Inclusive Education

Passion: We do Values: Everyone not leave students should have the behind, no matter right to learn the challenges. alongside their peers.

Pluralism, choice and inclusive education As a modern democratic society, people in New Zealand often hold different views. We do not always agree with each other. Some families believe a special school or unit is the best choice for their child. We respect and understand that choice. For choice to be real, however, there have to be viable alternatives and equity of funding. If families are choosing special education because their regular school was unwelcoming, this is not a real choice. If resources are locked up unfairly in special schools and units and not transferable to regular schools then this is also not a real choice.

Unfortunately, research we carried out in 2011 on families with children who received the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme found that families often did not have a real choice. Nearly half of the 217 respondents felt they had not always had a real choice between schools . Almost a quarter of those who had not been able to enrol their children in the school of their choice reported an unwelcoming atmosphere, lack of special services and poor equipment and physical access (MacDonald & Gray, 2011).

All students should be welcome in all schools and every classroom in the country. Once this is achieved, then real choice can occur.

Inclusive education - Beyond principles and good intent The Education Act, the Human Rights Act, the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities all guarantee disabled children’s right to attend their local, regular school. Despite this, the experience of individual disabled students still varies wildly and more often than not depends on the individual school.

Vulnerable students, such as disabled children, often lack representation on school boards. The self-managing nature of our schools and society’s attitudes toward disability means that discrimination is a reality for some disabled students and their families. Disabled students are still not welcome at some schools, especially if they do not come with extra resources (Wills & Rosenbaum, 2013, p. 35).

In our 2011 research 40% of disabled students attended a school they were not zoned for (MacDonald & Gray, 2011). This has negative effects on families and schools. Schools that welcome disabled students tend to attract more disabled students, becoming magnet schools. This puts pressure on their resourcing. By comparison, schools that are not welcoming to disabled students have less funding pressure and do not have to adapt their teaching methods to the same extent.

Currently, schools are being, effectively, rewarded for discouraging disabled students from enrolling.

The time is right for change All schools should be achieving across the board and be welcoming to all students, including disabled students We think the time is right to make changes to bring schools together to address the issues in inclusive education. We note that the Government is already planning to promote collaboration between schools through the Investing in Education Success initiative.

We also note that resource teachers now work across schools in clusters. The Government is reforming disability support services through Enabling Good Lives. Enabling Good Lives promotes collaboration between government, non-government organisations and the community.

The Government should strongly consider a pilot programme to look at ways for groups of schools to work together to form an inclusive community of schools. We need to move beyond individual schools struggling alone. The pilot should look at ways for groups of schools to share knowledge and resources as well as connect with the wider community, including community organisations.

Research has shown that a willingness and ability to access outside agencies plays a large role in successful inclusion of students with disabilities (Visser, Cole, & Daniels, 2010, pp. 45-48).

Schools could also work together to align enrolment practices. This is needed to prevent magnet schools and ensure every school is welcoming. Realistically, the Ministry of Education is always going to find it difficult to actively manage and monitor the enrolment practices of 2,500 schools. Communities of schools may be able to do a better job of self-monitoring each other.

Recommendation: The Ministry of Education runs a pilot programme where schools work together to form an inclusive community.

Data A key finding from our Families Choices research was that parents wanted more information, particularly about how inclusive individual schools are (MacDonald & Gray, 2011). With a self-managing school system, it is vital parents can access the information they need.

Currently, you can get detailed ethnic data about individual schools in Education Review Office reports, but no data on disabled students. This puts parents of disabled children at a disadvantage and is not consistent with the push for more transparency and performance in education. There will be challenges around definitions of disability, but these can be overcome.

Recommendation: The Ministry of Education works with the Education Review Office to publish data on disabled students.

OSCAR Funding The Out of School Care and Recreation subsidy, which is provided by the Ministry of Social Development, is not based on a student’s needs. Instead it is based on income, with the highest rate being $3.91 per child per hour. This is too low for children who require additional or one to one support. This can prevent disabled children from attending before and after school programmes as well as holiday programmes. This is turn can prevent their parents from working.

The Ministry of Education should work with the Ministry of Social Development to develop a realistic subsidy level for disabled children.

Recommendation: The Ministry of Education works with the Ministry of Social Development to develop realistic funding levels for disabled children accessing after school care.

Early childhood education As the government approaches the 98 per cent participation target for early childhood education, there will be diminishing returns from existing participation initiatives. Reaching the target will require a greater focus on priority learners; especially disabled children.

Discrimination and barriers There is evidence that families with disabled children have trouble accessing early childhood education. They can face the same attitudinal barriers that many families face in primary and secondary education, and this includes negative attitudes from Ministry of Education staff. Research has found cases of parents planning to petition early childhood centres for the removal of children with disabilities (Stark, Gordon-Burns, Purdue, Rarere-Briggs, & Turnock, 2011, pp. 11-12).

Unlike in state and partnership schools, equal rights for disabled children enrolling in early childhood education are not covered in the Education Act. Instead equal rights for enrolling in early education centres are covered only by the Human Rights Act. This gives disabled children and their families, less protection than in state and partnership schools.

ECE Taskforce The Final Report of the ECE Taskforce devoted a chapter to disabled children. The Taskforce heard concerns that some children with disabilities and their families were turned away from, or made to feel unwelcome at, some early childhood education services. The Taskforce considered it likely that disabled children and their families are being disadvantaged, including possible breaches of the Human Rights Act (ECE Taskforce, 2011, p. 98).

The Taskforce noted that for disabled children early childhood education can have important long-term benefits. The ECE Taskforce made a number of recommendations. We broadly endorse these recommendations (ECE Taskforce, 2011, pp. 98-99).

Recommendation: The Ministry of Education implements the special education recommendations of the ECE Taskforce. 11

Referral times for the early intervention service In the Ministry of Education’s 2013 Annual Report, the early intervention service only met the 90 day referral target 65 per cent of the time (Ministry of Education , 2013, p. 34). Given the relatively short time children spend in early childhood education and the benefits of early intervention, this is concerning.

Recommendation: The Ministry of Education works to lower referral times for the early intervention service.

Support worker funding Currently, some parents are unable to find work, or work an adequate number of hours, because of inflexible policies. For example education support worker funding for early childhood education is limited to a maximum of 15 hours, with many disabled children getting far less. Educational support worker funding also does not continue through the holidays or for any longer than three hours a session.

Some early childhood centres will deny a place for disabled children unless an education support worker is provided.

This means parents cannot work more than a maximum 15 hours, or even use the full 20 hours of free Early Childhood Education. This makes it extremely hard for parents, particularly sole parents, to re-enter the work force. It is a short-sighted and grossly unfair policy that prevents parents from working.

Previous Ministry of Social Development research has shown that 25.8% of people on the Domestic Purpose Benefits have children with disabilities (O’Donovan, McMillan, & Worth, 2004). In the 2006 Disability Survey, 28 per cent of disabled children lived in one-parent households. This rose to 31 per cent for disabled children with high support needs (Statistics New Zealand & Office for Disability Issues, 2009, pp. 14-15).

If a child needs a support worker to attend an early childhood centre, the hours should match the full 20 hours of free Education Childhood Education. This would enable parents of disabled children to actually use the full 20 hours of free Education Childhood Education, as intended, and have a chance to find adequate employment. This in turn would partially reduce the high rate of poverty for disabled children.

Recommendation: The Ministry of Education increases support worker hours to give children the best possible start in life and to enable parents to work.

Data and National Student Numbers The Ministry of Education will be extending National Students Numbers to children enrolled in early childhood education. This will enable the Ministry of Education to better track disabled children, and their experiences in early childhood education.

As Minister you should expect, and request, better quality data about disabled children in early childhood education.

Recommendation:

The Ministry of Education uses National Student Numbers to monitor the experiences of disabled children in early childhood education.

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read our briefing. The disabled students and their families we work with have big aspirations for the future. Our challenge is to ensure that we have an education system that can help them realise those aspiration and not stand in the way. Disabled students and their families deserve a fair go.

Bibliography Bentley, J. K. (2010). Lessons from the 1 per cent: Children with labels of severe disabilities and their peers as architects of inclusive education. In J. Rix, M. Nind, K. Sheehy, K. Simmons, J. Parry, & R. Kumrai, Equality, Participation and Inclusion 2: Diverse contexts (pp. 253-267). Abingdon: Routledge. ECE Taskforce. (2011). An Agenda for Amazing Children - Final report of the ECE Taskforce. Education Review Office . (2010). Including Students with High Needs. Wellington: Education Review Office. MacArthur, D. J. (2009). Learning better together. Wellington: IHC . MacDonald, C., & Gray, L. (2011). Families Choices: Choosing Schools for Disabled Children. CCS Disability Action. Ministry of Education . (2013). Annual Report 2013. Wellington: Ministry of Education. O’Donovan, T., McMillan, K., & Worth, H. (2004). An Employment Barrier: The Health Status of DPB Recipients' Children. Social policy journal of NZ Te Puna Whakaaro. Peters, S. J. (2003). Inclusive education: achieving education for all by including those with disabilities and special needs. World Bank. Peters, S. J. (2004). Inclusive education: an EFA strategy for all children. World Bank. Stark, R., Gordon-Burns, D., Purdue, K., Rarere-Briggs, B., & Turnock, K. (2011). Other parents’ perceptions of disability and inclusion in early childhood education: Implications for the teachers’ role in creating inclusive communities. He Kupa eJournal , 4-18. Statistics New Zealand & Office for Disability Issues. (2009). Disability and Informal Care in New Zealand in 2006: Results from the New Zealand Disability Survey. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand. Visser, J., Cole, T., & Daniels, H. (2010). Inclusion for the difficult to include. In J. Rix, M. Nind, K. Sheehy, K. Simmons, J. Parry, & R. Kumrai, Equality, Participation and Inclusion 2: Diverse contexts (pp. 43-50). Abingdon: Routledge.

Wills, R., & Rosenbaum, S. A. (2013). Parental Advocacy and the Safeguards Necessary for Inclusive Education: New Zealand Lessons for Pacific- Asian Education. Pacific-Asian Education, 27-40.