On Friday the 12th of July 2019, I presented a session at Nasenlive on Using Case Study to support learners with SEND. This is the narrative to support the presentation taken from an edited piece that I originally wrote for nasen connect.

The case study , is often used individually within the context of Pupil Premium (PP) to demonstrate PP spend, or to outline the support a learner with SEND may have received within a school or Early Years setting. Case studies, used in this way, usually list how support which is additional to or different from the usual classroom arrangements has contributed to pupil attainment, by putting the school and learner into context, the approaches to learning used, the impact of any intervention delivered and identifying next steps.

Within a wider framework case studies are often seen as a way of recording and presenting good practice, across a larger area, may be a group of schools or early years settings. In the Partnership case Studies, undertaken by Action for Children (foundation years.org.uk) for the Department of Education (DFE) Voluntary and Community sector grant programme, for example produced ten case studies which identified top practice tips from early years (EY) settings with sections on benefits, challenges and next steps, which could aid another professional if they wished to adopt similar strategies within their own setting.

In another example, case studies can be used for illustrative purposes to support an evaluation. The Independent Evaluation Report into nasen’s Early Year’s SEND Resources, undertaken by LMKCO, commissioned by nasen (http://www.nasen.org.uk/newsviews/News/News.the-independent-evaluation-report-into-nasen-s-ey-send-resources-is-published.html) uses four case studies following a questionnaire to probe further around the impact of the nasen resources within an Early Years setting. The final evaluation uses these four examples to enhance the conclusions drawn.

There are a range of different publications, including edited books which use case studies, as their chapter format. The work of Villa & Thousand (2005 & 2015) is of particular significance as it was used by Deb Robinson, from the University of Derby, at a recent ResearchSEND Conference to illustrate the features of inclusive schools, such as team work and collaboration, flexible and diverse teaching approaches and improving universal provision Both of Villa and Thousand’s publications take a case study approach, but Deb had analysed these herself to present the features she thought were important to an inclusive school

A case study approach can enhance work, where similarities and differences are being documented and patterns are likely to emerge,. These possibilities can be identified at the beginning of the process and identified though the research methodology during the development of the research proposal and the submission to the Ethics Committee, which have been discussed in a previous piece within this series .

Case study research is popular in professions such as health, political science, social work, architecture, operations research and business management, as its intention is not to describe a subject or situation but to answer a hypothesis in the same way that another research project would be set up to answer a question.

Case studies are most effective when they are collected across a similar theme and a number of these are produced and the information collected is through a mixed method approach, using both qualitative data and qualitative techniques. Case study methodology, in an educational context, allows for the collection of multiple sources of data to build a picture of a setting to highlight what they may be doing well, or to examine a professional undertaking a specific role or even consider the impact of an intervention for a learner with SEND.

Research information for the case study can be gathered from a range of data sources, starting usually with document analysis to establish the context. This could take the form of collating and studying information, readily available within the public domain, such as a setting’s website, their Ofsted grading and any assessment results and analysis they may publish.

Fieldwork following the initial information gathering stage, could then take the form of a number of different research methods. In one piece of research it may be appropriate to gather data from the whole school staff, and an online questionnaire may be the best way to achieve this, whereas in another piece of research, the case study, may only be examining the role of SEND support staff, so a focus group and follow up with semi structured interviews may provide all the information required.

Case studies when collected around similar themes across a wide area may reveal some expected outcomes, which were not identified at the beginning, giving scope to re-evaluation and will add, understand and give conviction to a subject.

It may be that in school there is not the capacity for undertaking case studies, but finding ones already completed, as either a single case study using mixed methods, or examining ones within an evaluation, may help to inform and support pupils with SEND more effectively.

Some examples of Educational Case Studies

1.Early Years SENCO Case Studies https://foundationyears.org.uk/ey-senco-case-studies/

2.Evaluation Report for nasen’s Early Years SEND Resources http://www.nasen.org.uk/newsviews/News/News.the-independent-evaluation-report-into-nasen-s-ey-send-resources-is-published.html

3.Education, Health & Care Plans. Examples of Good Practice. https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/field/attachemnt/EHCP%20Exemplar%20Guide%202017.pdf

4.Freedom to lead: A study of outstanding primary school leadership in England. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/outstanding-primary-school-leadership-in-England

5.Primary School Case Studies (NI) https://www.csscni.org.uk/schools/good-practice-primary-school-case-studies