The Effects of Students With Special Educational Needs on Their Classmates: A Replication Study

• In Event: Assessment in K–12 Schools

Abstract

In the present study, we examined how the presence of classmates with special educational needs (SEN) is related to academic, motivational, and psychosocial outcomes of students without SEN. Analyses were based on consecutive German large-scale assessments of fourth-graders in primary schools. We used multilevel regression models to compare students without classmates with SEN (n = 16487) to students with at least one classmate with SEN (n = 10120) with additional analyses for different types of SEN. Overall, the results do not suggest that inclusive schooling is associated with negative consequences for students without SEN. However, their academic achievement in spelling and mathematics was a little bit lower in classrooms with students with SEN.

Authors

• Aleksander Kocaj, Humboldt University - Berlin

• Poldi Kuhl, Leuphana University - Lueneburg

• Petra Stanat, Humboldt University - Berlin