Cayman Islands students receiving school-based support for potential Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) appear to perform markedly better on Year 11 exams than peers in the first stage of being monitored for SEND.
Public school students in the earliest Phase 1 of the SEND process have a much lower pass rate in English, Maths and Science than students who have progressed to Phase 2, according to statistics in the Education Data Report 2020.
Additionally, while Phase 1 students have a much higher pass rate in English than students in the final Phase 3 (where students have a verified education disability and receive support from outside the school) — those Phase 1 students have about the same pass rate in Maths and a much lower pass rate in Science than the Phase Three students.
Overall, students with no SEND have significantly higher exam scores in all subjects than students with potential or verified education disabilities.
This is the fifth in a series of stories analysing the Data Report.
SEND process
Public schools evaluate students for SEND and proceed along 3 phases.
- Phase 1 – Early Screening and Progress Monitoring: Students receive additional support, primarily from the classroom teacher.
- Phase 2 – School-Based Support Team Individual Intervention Plans: Similar to Phase 1, but with alternative strategies, and increased intensity and frequency of interventions.
- Phase 3 – SEND Eligibility and Individual Education Plans: Verified education disability, receive support from outside the school, monitored on official SEND Register maintained by the Department of Education Services.
The report also includes information on a relative handful of students (7 out of the group of 366) who are non-native speakers of the English language — aka ‘English as Second Language’.
According to the report, “8% of the cohort requires [Phase 3] SEND services. This percentage is below international norms which according to the National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES) stands at approximately 14%.”
Student performance by SEND status
About 76% of the 366 Year 11 students have no SEND, 6% are in Phase 1, 8% in Phase 2 and 8% in Phase 3.
Overall, students with no SEND have a 90% pass rate in English, 68% in Maths and 81% in Science, i.e. receiving a C grade or better.
Phase 1 students have a 59% pass rate in English, 14% in Maths and 27% in Science.
Phase 2 students have a 79% pass rate in English, 39% in Maths and 68% in Science.
Phase 3 students have a 45% pass rate in English, 13% in Maths and 35% in Science.