Clusters: inter‐school collaboration in meeting special educational needs in ordinary schools

Abstract

This article reports the findings and discusses the implications of a research project on school clusters, a system of inter‐school collaboration to meet special educational needs (SEN) in ordinary schools. The project was in two stages. The first stage involved detailed qualitative case studies of four different kinds of cluster arrangement. These were analysed in terms of antecedents, processes and outcomes based on documentation and interviews with key participants as informants. The second stage surveyed a wider sample of cluster arrangements in three regional meetings using a group interview methodology. The overall findings are summarised in terms of the conditions and factors which promote SEN inter‐school collaboration and the outcomes for schools, teachers, local education authorities (LEAs) and support services. The significance and implications of these forms of inter‐school collaboration are finally discussed in terms of the current changes to the school system and the education of pupils with SEN.