We pamper them and suddenly reality hits them: Slovak national testing for Year 5 pupils with special needs

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is an output of a comprehensive survey of national testing in Slovakia (Part of VEGA project 1/0303/22 Descholarisation and home education in new social and pedagogical situations and contexts). It is a response to the lack of expert debate in Slovakia on the circumstances under which children with disabilities are included in the national testing. The research findings are from qualitative longitudinal research into the set-up, process, conditions and results of the first test cycle for Year 5 primary school children in Slovakia. Specifically, it looks at the situation of pupils with a special educational needs diagnosis who are integrated into mainstream schools. Drawing on a data analysis of interviews with primary school teachers, heads and special needs teachers, the article focuses on their views of the procedural and content modifications of the test conditions in Slovak schools. It compares these with the approaches, strategies and modified testing processes used mainly in Anglo-American settings. Questions are raised about the targeting of the modifications, which, according to our participants, reflects neither the pupils’ individual needs nor the methods used by pupils in the classroom.