What are the key features of good practice when working with children and young people at risk of exclusion? A Delphi Study.

School exclusion is a complex social issue which often increases the likelihood of wider social exclusion, crime, and poor educational outcomes. The rates of school exclusion in England are a long-standing issue and, whilst there is guidance for schools around exclusion practice, the numbers of exclusions and referrals to Educational Psychologists (EPs) for these children and young people (CYP) continue to increase. The current research therefore aims to explore the core features of good EP practice when working with CYP at risk of school exclusion by consulting with a group of EPs with expertise in this area. As there is no current consensus around ‘good practice’ for EPs when working with this population in the literature, this research used a three-round e-Delphi method, a surveying technique, to explore the group opinion. Using a purposive sampling technique, a final panel of 18 EPs were recruited, first answering an open-ended question regarding opinions on good practice in this area. Thematic Analysis (TA) was then used to code and theme qualitative responses and to generate statements. Participants rated these statements to determine the percentage of group agreement and establish a consensus on how essential certain areas of practice were. Consensus was reached for 115 statements across 5 themes including assessment, consultation, training, the system, and the skills and characteristics of the EP. 112 statements indicated aspects of practice that participants felt were either ‘essential in all’ or ‘essential in some situations’ and 3 statements were agreed to be “not essential”. The findings demonstrated large amounts of consensus in most areas for practice for working with CYP at risk of school exclusion. The findings have been used to develop a best practice framework (the EPEP framework) to guide and inform EP practice when working with this population.