The Utility of Educational Psychologist's Reports Within a Local Authority, According to Its Major Stakeholders

Background and Aims: Report writing is an activity that forms a large part of the
work of an Educational Psychologist (EP) and is part of the mechanism to help
achieve the five outcomes of Every Child Matters (2003). Reports are utilised by a
number of stakeholders including Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCo)
Special Educational Needs (SEN) Panel members and Parents and Carers. It was the
aim of this research to establish the views of such stakeholders regarding the utility of
EP reports. This research has Positive Psychology and Solution Focused approach
underpinnings.
Sample: In total, there were 219 questionnaires sent to the SENCo group with 98
responses (n=98), and 18 returned out of 50 sent to Parents/Carers (n=18), and finally
with 20 of the 30 questionnaires sent to the SEN Panel members (n=20), giving an
overall total of n=136.
Method: This evaluative, real world enquiry employed a mixed methodology
approach, using a Likert Scale to collect quantitative data, and using an open question
within the questionnaire to gather qualitative data; this data was analysed using
thematic analysis.
Results: The main results were that: a) The SENCo group value the use of
psychology within reports, reports that help make plans for action, reports that are
easily accessible and reports that give them new information. The SEN Panel group
and the Parent/Carer group value reports that give them new information, reports that
allow them to make plans for action, and reports that are presented well, b) although
there are subtle group differences, overall: all groups agreed that EP reports that they
have read give a good understanding of a young persons difficulties, are relevant and
to the point, have appropriate language for SENCos and SEN Panel, but not always
for Parents/Carers, make good links between the young persons difficulties and plans
for action, give a good understanding of the young persons strengths, give useful
guidance, offer a unique perspective to the SEN Panel and Parents/Carers, but not
always to the SENCos and are easy to read for SENCos and SEN Panel, but not
always Parents/Carers.
Conclusion: This study has addressed some gaps in previous research in this area by
using a variety of stakeholders to EP reports, and it has used their experiences rather
than using hypothetical or example reports. This research points towards that fact that
the stakeholders of the EP reports within the Local Authority at the heart of this
investigation all value similar aspects of an EP report, and EP reports should meet
service users needs given that they contain new information, plans for action, are well
structured and accessible and contain psychological elements.

This thesis supplied via ROAR to UEL-registered users is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, and duplication of any part of the material is not permitted, except for your personal use for the purposes of non-commercial research and private study in electronic or print form. You must obtain permission from the copyright-holder for any other use. Electronic or print copies may not be offered, for sale or otherwise, to anyone. No quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement.