Following a learning experience with one of her Year 2 students, whose extreme and challenging behavior required extra support from a teaching assistant (TA) but who loved practical hands-on science days and investigations, it occurred to the author that there must be hundreds of children and TAs all over the UK facing challenging dilemmas every…

While the number of teachers in mainstream schools in England has remained relatively steady over the last decade or so, the number of full-time equivalent TAs has more than trebled since 2000: from 79,000 to 243,700. Teaching assistants comprise over a quarter of the workforce in mainstream schools in England: 35% of the primary workforce, and…

"Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1" reviews the best available evidence to offer five recommendations for developing the maths skills of 3-7-year olds. Recommendations include integrating maths into different activities throughout the day -- for example, at registration and snack time -- to familiarise children…

Teachers in the United Kingdom (UK) are often supported in the classroom by teaching assistants (TAs)--paraprofessionals whose roles have changed significantly in the last several years. The 2003 National Agreement: Raising Standards and Tackling Workload, known as the workforce remodeling initiative, was designed to raise standards in schools in…

Over the last decade, teaching assistants (TAs) have become an established part of everyday classroom life. TAs are often used by schools to help low-attaining pupils and those with special educational needs. Yet despite the huge rise in the number of TAs working in UK classrooms, very little is known about their impact on pupils. This key and…

The number of pupils with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who receive their education in mainstream schools in the UK has increased considerably over the last 10 years. Despite this increase, teachers and other support staff face a number of challenges in order to ensure that these inclusive arrangements bring maximum benefits to the children…

The Special Education and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001 required post-16 institutions to have implemented the Disability Discrimination Act Part IV (DDA) 1995 by September 2005. In this paper a lecturer in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) and a specialist teacher of the visually impaired from the Centre for Special and Inclusive Education at a…

Contributors from Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States describe how primary-age children in these anglophone countries are learning in the language of their home. The book demonstrates that monolingual schooling in a multicultural society fails to meet the needs of bilingual children. It argues that linguistic minorities…