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The DISS project »
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Welcome to School Support Staff.net - the website of the ground-breaking DISS study on the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff, carried out by the Institute of Education, London.
"I believe the DISS project is the most seminal research project to address SEN in the past decade"
Jean Gross, The Communication Champion
LATEST NEWS...CONFERENCES...PAPERS & ARTICLES...TRAINING...EVENTS...
| NEW!!! Paper to be presented at BERA Annual Conference 2010 |
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A paper discussing how classroom practice might be framed in light of the DISS study will be presented at the BERA Annual Conference at the University of Warwick. The paper, entitled Should TAs have a pedagogical role?: lessons following the DISS project, will feature as part of the Main Conference Parallel Session 1, on Wednesday, 1st September 2010, from 4.30pm. Click here to download the paper.
added 30th August 2010
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| Research expertise at the Institute of Education - a case study of the DISS project |
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The DISS project features in a new series of short case studies produced by the Institute of Education, describing the impact of its research on education policy and practice in the UK and around the world. The case study documents the contribution of the DISS project and the work the research team have been involved with over the last year. Click here to download the case study.
added 30th July 2010
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| CPD events at the Institue of Education on the deployment and impact of TAs |
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We will be running two half-day CPD events based on the findings from the DISS project at the ioe in London on Wednesday, 6th October 2010. There will be two sessions: one for primary school practitioners and one for secondary school practitioners. Each session will allow participants to engage with the challenges regarding TA deployment and practice, and explore possible solutions. To find out more, click here.
added 26th July 2010
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| School Support Staff.net team launch new research project on improving the deployment of TAs |
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The School Support Staff.net team have commenced a follow up study to the DISS project, funded by Esmèe Fairbairn Foundation. Over the 2010/11 academic year, we will work in collaboratively with headteachers, teachers and TAs across a number of schools in order todevelop and evaluate school-based strategies for the effective deployment of TAs. Find out more by clicking here to see the project webpage.
added 7th June 2010
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| DISS research papers available to download |
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Papers presented by members of the team at two prestigious international conferences are now available to download. Findings from the DISS project were presented at the International Conference on Interpersonal Relationships in Education and the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference held in Colorado this April/May. Click the links above to download the papers.
added 12th May 2010
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| The DISS project Inset programme - find out more about the DISS study and explore ways forward with us |
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Click here to find out more about our new Inset programme for schools and local authorities, Ways forward for classroom support staff: an Inset programme for practitioners.
added 17th March 2010
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| DISS informs Government response to SEN inquiry |
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Findings from the DISS project have been instrumental in informing the Government's plan to address SEN provison in England. Having accepted the recommendations made in Brian Lamb's inquiry into parental confidence in the SEN system in Decemeber 2009, the DCSF has now published it's implementation plan, Improving parental confidence in the special educational needs system. Click here for the plan.
added 8th March 2010
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DISS project featured in TDA's flagship CPD journal, Professional Teacher |
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Findings from the DISS project, as reported in the October BERJ paper (see below), was one of key pieces of research mentioned in the lead article in the TDA's professional development publication, Professional Teacher (Spring 2010). The article ('A positive partnership') reflects on research into the use of classroom support staff and the skills teachers need to develop in order to use them effectively. Click here to read the article (pages 6-8).
added February 2010
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| Keynote symposium at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference |
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The DISS project findings were unveiled in a Keynote address at the BERA Annual Conference at the University of Manchester. Delegates rated the symposium given by the DISS project team as the best of the six Keynote symposia given during the conference. Our presentation scored highly across the evaluation categories for its content, conherence, quality and relevance to an international audience.
added February 2010
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| Publication of the DISS project findings |
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The DISS project final report was covered on national radio, the BBC news website and in the print and online versions of leading UK broadsheets, and was the lead story in the Times Educational Supplement on 4th September 2009 (Click here for the TES article and here for the editorial). The research was also featured in The Economist. Click here for our press release.
The DISS team have written and contributed to a number of articles in practitioner publications to conincide with the release of the final reports. Click here for references.
added February 2010
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