EduPort

EduPort 2023, 7(2):19-27 | DOI: 10.21062/edp.2023.006

IDENTIFICATION OF SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS: PILOT STUDY

Zbyněk Němec, Alice Kourkzi

1 Faculty of Education, Charles University/ National Pedagogical Institute (Czech Republic)

2 Faculty of Education, Charles University/ National Pedagogical Institute (Czech Republic)

Although socially disadvantaged students in the Czech education system are numerous, little attention has been paid to the identification and support of this group. Previous attempts have found no tool able to reliably identify these students, in order to provide their above standard educational support. This article summarizes the main results from a pilot study of a new method aimed at identifying students with social disadvantage and the relevant methodology (Němec, 2023). Following research of The Faculty of Education at Charles University, we have drafted and verified a tool “Assessment scheme for the identification of socially disadvantaged students” in the Support of Equal Opportunities Project run by the National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic. Verification has been conducted in cooperation with school counselling workers across 40 schools with above average representation of socially disadvantaged students. Instrument efficiency has been evaluated through analysis of data obtained using the tool, and feedback questionnaire answered by involved school counselling workers.  The pilot verification has shown: I) From the point of view of counselling workers, proposed assessment scheme represents a functional tool – more than 80 % of involved workers have stated that it has been efficient to work with the scheme, and they managed to identify socially disadvantaged students more precisely. II) Thanks to the tool, it is possible to identify socially disadvantaged students much more precisely in particular schools - in more than two thirds of involved schools, the total numbers of socially disadvantaged students have differed by more than 20 % compared to previous principals’ estimations.  The data from the pilot verification of the tool: “Assessment scheme for the identification of socially disadvantaged students”, has shown it to be a functional tool, and its further utilization in schools would undoubtedly contribute to a greater support of socially disadvantaged students.

Keywords: Social disadvantage, socially disadvantaged students, support of equal opportunities, inclusive education.

Published: September 1, 2023  Show citation