J. Except. People 2020, 9(2):23-50

An analysis of plans and legislative influence in psycho-educational assessment for learners with learning disabilities in Brno, Czech Republic

Joseph Athiende1, Karel Pančocha2, Margaret Murugami3, Jessina Muthee3
1 Department of Education, Redcliffe State High School, Queensland, Australia
2 Institute for Research in Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
3 Department of Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya

This research study aimed to analyze the determinants of psycho-educational assessment in particular, psycho-educational assessment plans and legislative influence. In-depth interviews were used to investigate issues and to discover how the psycho-educational assessors, teachers and parents felt about the whole process. Interview data from parents of school-age children with LD who had psycho-educational assessments done within the past one year were used in the current study to find out their experiences with the assessment process. Teachers from elementary and primary schools and psycho-educational assessors were interviewed. This study used descriptive research design and mixed method to collect data from primary and secondary sources. The study applied Critical Disability Theory (CDT) within the paradigm of transformative perspective. ATLAS.ti computer software was used for conceptualization, coding and categorizing of the qualitative data. Findings showed that psycho-educational assessments were done at different times and different levels within the education system. The initial psycho-educational assessments were done for purposes of school entrance at compulsory education or for school postponement. There was substantial variation in both policy and practice across the various PPCC included in this study. This study recommends that the education regulations be explicit to all stakeholders to ensure maximum degree of access to psycho-educational services and inclusion of learners with LD without discrimination.

Keywords: learning disability, psycho-educational assessment
Grants and funding:

This research was supported in part by grants from the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 KITE programme funded by the European Commission and implemented by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

Published: June 11, 2020  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Athiende, J., Pančocha, K., Murugami, M., & Muthee, J. (2020). An analysis of plans and legislative influence in psycho-educational assessment for learners with learning disabilities in Brno, Czech Republic. Journal of Exceptional People, 9(17), 23-50
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)

    • References

    1. European Commission. (2010, March 3). A European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Brussels. Communication from the Commission.
    2. American Educational Research Association. (2011). Code of Ethics American Educational Research Association Approved by the AERA. K Street NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005.
    3. American Psychological Association. (2015). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
    4. Blake, M., & Finch, S. (2000). Survey of the Movement of Children from Playgroups to Reception Classes. London: National Centre for Social Research.
    5. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). NewYork: Routledge. Go to original source...
    6. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2009). Mixed methods research: Developments, debates, and dilemma. San Fransisco: Berrett-Koehler.
    7. Devlin and Pothier. (2005). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
    8. Devlin R., & Pothier D. (2005). Critical Disability Theory: Essays in Philosophy, Politics, Policy, and Law. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
    9. Disability Rights Oregon. (Sixth Ed, Volume 20, 2012). Disability Rights Oregon (Sixth Special Education: A Guide for Parents & Advocates United States Code Section 1400. Retrieved from National Arts and Disability Centre: http://www.droregon.org.
    10. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. (2010). Teacher Education for Inclusion: International Literature Review. Denmark: Odense.
    11. European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. (2014). Special needs education within the system. Czech Reupublic.
    12. European Commission. (2010-2014, March 3). A European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Brussels. Communication from the Commission.
    13. Grigorenko E. L. (2009). Dynamic assessment and response to intervention: Two sides of one coin. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42:111-132. Go to original source...
    14. Guest G, Bunce A, & Johnson L. (2006, February 1). How Many Interviews Are Enough?: An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Methods, pp. 59-82. Go to original source...
    15. IDEA. (2001-2010). Students ages 6-21. Retrieved from Part B Child Counts: www.IDEAdata.org.
    16. Mason, M. (2010, September 8). Retrieved from Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1428/3027.
    17. Mertens D. M. (2010). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
    18. Mertens, D. M. (2007). Transformative paradigm: Mixed methods and social justice. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 212-225. Go to original source...
    19. Mertens, D. M. (2010). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
    20. Ministry of Education Youth and Sports Czech Republic. (1984). Act No. 29. amended as No. 561 of 2004. Czech Republic: Ministry of Education.
    21. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (2013, July Thursday, 25). The White Book on the Education-national programme for developing the education in the Czech Republic. Prague, Karmelitska, Karmelitska.
    22. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (2015). Statistical yearbook 2014/2015. Czech Republic.
    23. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Czech Republic. (2004). Act No. 561 on Pre-school, Elementary, Secondary, Higher and Other Types of Education. Czech Republic.
    24. National Council on Disability. (August 12, 2009). Effective Emergency Management: Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities Letter of Transmittal. Washington, DC 20500: The President: The White House.
    25. OECD. (2012). Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools. OECD Publishing. Go to original source...
    26. OECD. (2014). Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing. Go to original source...
    27. Pothier, D., & Devlin, R. (2005). Critical Disability Theory: Essays in Philosophy, Politics, Policy, and Law. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
    28. Rehabilitation Services Administration. (24 January, 1985). Program policy directive. Washington, DC: U.S.: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services.
    29. Riddell, S., & Weedon, E. (2009). Approaches to dispute resolution in additional support needs in Scotland. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 4, 24, 355-369. Go to original source...
    30. Riddell, S., Harris, N., Smith, E., & Weedon, E. (2010). Dispute resolution in additional and special educational needs: local authority perspectives. Journal of Education Policy, 25, 1, 55-71. Go to original source...
    31. Scipioni. (2014). The View from across the Table: A Qualitative Study of Parent Experiences with the School Psychologist during Initial Evaluation Feedback Conference. PCOM Psychology Dissertations, (p. 307).
    32. Shima & Rodrigues. (2009). The implementation of EU social inclusion and social protection strategies in European. Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED).
    33. Stiggins & Richard, J. (n.d.). Assessment for learning: A key to motivation and achivement. Edge.
    34. Stoodley, I. (2009). It Professionals' Experience of Ethics and Its Implications for It Education, in: Faculty of Science and Technology. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Queensland University of Technology.
    35. Taylor, P. C. (2008). Multi-paradigmatic research design spaces for cultural studies researchers embodying postcolonial theorising. Cultural Studies in Science Education, 4(3), 881-889. Go to original source...
    36. The Education Act. (2004). ACT No. 561/2004 Coll. Czech Republic: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
    37. The Gordon Commission. (2013). To Assess, To Teach, To Learn: A Vision for the Future of Assessment, Technical Report. Berkeley: Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton University of California.
    38. The International Dyslexia Association Ontario Branch. (2013). Dyslexia services in the Czech Republic. Retrieved from http://idaontario.com/newsletters/Dyslexia_services_Czech_Republic.html.
    39. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic. (2012). The Education System in the Czech Republic. Karmelitská 7, 118 12 Praha 1.
    40. The World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH). (2000). Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities in Infancy. 7TH WORLD CONGRESS. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Plenum Publishing Corporation.
    41. Thorndike, E. (1924). An introduction to the theory of mental and social measurement. New York: Wiley.
    42. Tzuriel & Samuels. (2000). Dynamic Assessment of Learning Potential: Inter-Rater Reliability of Deficient Cognitive Functions, Type of Mediation, and Non-Intellective Factors. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 1:41-64. Go to original source...
    43. Victoria Schmidt, & Bailey, J. D. (2014). Institutionalization of Children in the Czech Republic: A Case of Path Dependency: Employment of Best Young Scientists for International Cooperation Empowerment. Brno, Czech Republic. Go to original source...
    44. World Health Organization. (2002). Towards a Common Language for Functioning, Disability and Health: Geneva ICF: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Geneva.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content