The working lives of Special Educational Needs Coordinators

Start date: 1 September 2007
End date: 30 September 2008
Primary investigator: 00055953

This commisioned research has been undertaken to provide current evidence about the realities of the roles, responsibilities and expectations on SENCos in England. It is a follow-up study to the earlier research into the recrutiment, induction and retention of SENCo.

In 2006, four small regional meetings were convened by the TDA/NASEN to explore the perceptions of the role. The participants had been nominated as 'effective' SENCos. However, it was unclear how their practices and roles compared with those of other SENCos. This piece of research was developed to help clarify the working lives of a much wider cohort of SENCos.

The data from the TDA/NASEN events, with some additonal aspects, were used to form the basis of a postal questionnaire. This was circlated to 500 SENCos working in England.

The findings will be published in a range of formats during 2008.