The SWANS Project - 2007 Summary

The aim of this research is to develop and validate procedures for monitoring learning progress for students with additional learning needs. The research is grounded on international and national shifts towards standards- and criterion-referenced assessment of student outcomes. It extends that work to assist teachers to assess and report development for students with diverse intellectual and learning disabilities, and to foster the use and dissemination of teaching strategies and resources that are specifically linked to learning standards and pathways.

In Australia, schools are required by legislation to enrol students with a range of additional learning needs. Indeed, the Disability Standards for Education (2005) set out the obligation of schools to ensure that all students have access to educational opportunities without experiencing discrimination (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Disability Discrimination Act, 1992). There is, however, a need to provide teachers with guidance about appropriate developmental goals and effective teaching strategies for their students with disabilities, and to disseminate knowledge about how best to design learning programs for these students. This has been reflected in the aims of the SWANs project, which are:

• To develop and validate assessment materials that describe expected progress in the foundational skills of communication, literacy, intrapersonal learning and interpersonal processes for students with additional learning needs, and that are appropriate for all students regardless of the nature of their learning needs.
• To investigate relationships between sub-types of additional learning needs and learning pathways.
• To assist teachers in both mainstream and special schools to use the assessment materials to inform their decisions about effective and targeted teaching strategies for students with additional learning needs, and to monitor and report their students’ progress.