Special Educational Needs Assessment in Greece: Integrating Educational Governance and Business Process Improvement through a Structured Literature Review

The increasing emphasis on inclusive education and the protection of the rights of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) has increased demand for transparent, fair, and efficient assessment systems. While international frameworks promote structured and coordinated approaches to SEN identification and support, national implementation often encounters governance fragmentation, procedural inefficiencies and uneven administrative capacity. In Greece, SEN assessment is conducted through multi-level administrative structures involving central authorities, regional directorates and specialized diagnostic bodies. This division often creates unclear responsibilities and slow procedures that delay timely support. This paper examines SEN assessment in Greece through an integrated analytical framework that combines governance theory and Business Process Improvement (BPI) methodologies.

Drawing on a structured literature review, the study analyzes how institutional arrangements, role allocation, digital infrastructure and performance monitoring mechanisms shape the effectiveness of assessment processes. Particular attention is given to the interaction between multi-level governance structures and operational process design, including the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), digital information systems and process mapping techniques. The analysis identifies critical theoretical and methodological gaps in the literature, including limited integration between governance and process-oriented approaches, underdeveloped performance measurement frameworks in educational administration and insufficient empirical linkage between digital maturity and administrative efficiency. By conceptualizing SEN assessment as both a governance system and a service, the paper contributes to the debate on public sector business process improvement (BPI) and proposes the need for integrated governance–BPI frameworks capable of enhancing transparency, timeliness and equity in inclusive education systems.