This document reports on the methodology used to approach a series of six evidence reviews on the best practices in the identification, support, and collaborative practices of children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 available to teachers and early year practitioners working in mainstream education in England. These reviews were commissioned by the Department for Education in the Autumn of 2024. The evidence informing each review was collected by means of a rapid evidence assessment (REA). A search of the literature aimed at drawing out key findings for educational outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The literature search focused on systematic reviews and meta-analyses evaluating effective tools and strategies for the identification and support for children and young people with SEND in mainstream settings as well as reviews evaluating collaborative practices between families, schools, and healthcare providers or specialists. In total, the authors retrieved 82 studies across the areas of SEND informing our identification and assessment strand of the research, 196 studies informing the support and intervention strand, and finally 58 studies were found to support the evidence around collaborative practices. The search efforts prioritised high-quality and relevant research, ensuring the inclusion of peer-reviewed studies and robust methodologies. All studies identified in the final sample were either systematic reviews or meta-analyses. To evaluate the quality of these studies, the authors used the Assessing the Methodology Quality of Systematic Reviews tool 2 (AMSTAR2) (Shea et al., 2017). Findings suggest that the evidence base is mixed according to this tool. Most studies were rated as high or moderate confidence in the results, with some rated as low due to a 'critical flaw'. The typical critical flaw was that many studies did not conduct a formal risk of bias assessment using a recognised tool (e.g., ROBINS-I, Cochrane Risk of Bias).