"Supporting the accessibility of education for children and youth". A new project underway at IBE

This year, the Educational Research Institute has signed contracts for the implementation of three major projects:

• Micro-credentials – piloting a new solution to support lifelong learning;
• Supporting the further development of the Integrated Qualifications System in Poland; and 
• Operating and developing the Integrated Qualifications Register as a tool to support lifelong learning (IQR3).

Now the project "Supporting the accessibility of education for children and youth" has joined this group, which is financed by the European Funds for Social Development (FERS). The contract was signed on December 8, 2023.

The main objective of the project is to develop and validate methods and organisational solutions that support the accessibility of education for children and youth. It also aims to develop the competence of education system staff in the area of working with children and pupils, taking into account the diversity of their educational and developmental needs.

The project, valued at more than PLN 91.5 million, will be implemented by IBE until April 2029 and includes four tasks:

Develop systemic resources to support accessibility

This task includes analysing the resources and needs of educational system staff in the field of inclusive education with particular emphasis on universal design and reasonable accommodation; developing and implementing solutions for monitoring and ensuring the quality of learners’ education in relation to their developmental and educational needs. Also included is the development of a model to support the transition between the stages of education and entry into the labour market (from the education system) as part of the school functional assessment.

Develop diagnostic tools for functional assessment

The result will be the development of four diagnostic toolkits within the framework of the school functional assessment, updating standards for tests in the cognitive, personality and emotional-social areas, and adapting existing diagnostic tests (Educational Prognosis Scale, Phonological Test Battery, Reading Test Battery, Writing Test Battery) to computer applications. Another challenge in this task will be developing a toolkit for a multifaceted measurement of students' well-being at four stages of education.

Develop methodological resources in line with the idea of accessibility

This task will produce five toolkits for monitoring the development of children and youth as part of the school functional assessment, including diagnostic tools to assess their development. In addition, a package of e-tutorials and methods materials will be developed for education system staff.

Training and consulting support for education system staff

Training and methods support will be provided to: teachers, specialists working in pre-schools and schools (pedagogue, special educator, psychologist, speech therapist, pedagogical therapist), principals of educational institutions, pedagogical staff of psychological and pedagogical clinics, career counselors, staff of teacher training centers, staff of school superintendents, representatives of local government units, university staff responsible for the education of future teachers. The total number of participants in the planned forms of support (stationary and online training, online counselling and consultation, seminars, conferences) will be about 45,000 individuals.

More information about the project can be found here.