Policy Implementation Difficulties and Special Education

Abstract

By considering, in one LEA, a particular area of policy implementation, namely the allocation of welfare assistance to named children with special needs in mainstream primary schools, the author questions whether LEA administrators do actually control events and determine what happens during the implementation process. This paper examines the different expectations of administrators and headteachers with regard to the role and specific duties of welfare assistants and also traces the historical development of the welfare assistant service in the target LEA. Evidence from these two sources points to wide ranging and adverse effects of a reactive administration and indicates that far from initiating and controlling events, LEA administrators struggle to keep up with developments in schools.