ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the current ethos underlying assessment of special educational needs and provides an outline of the historical context of recent developments, including the influence of the 1981 Education Act. The final part of the chapter discusses some key issues in assessment. Although it is relevant to the full range of special needs and to all age groups, the emphasis is on those children whose needs can be met in mainstream schools. The focus of the chapter is on children with learning difficulties. Readers interested in other aspects, such as emotional and behavioural difficulties, will find later chapters in this section very relevant. Similarly, we cannot here cover more specialist areas of assessment, and recommend the reader to additional publications (for example Hogg and Raynes for the area of mental handicap 1 ).
