Effects of Professional Development Addressing Inclusive Education: A Systematic Meta-Analysis

• In Event: Inclusive Schools and Pathways for Students With Disabilities

Abstract

To successfully implement inclusive education (IE), teachers must develop positive beliefs about IE, according knowledge and skills. Usually, teachers are supported through professional development opportunities (PD). The question arises if PD effectively supports teachers in developing the necessary knowledge, beliefs, and skills. To address this question, we conducted a systematic meta-analysis by screening the 12,050 search results that revealed 348 eligible studies with more than 155,000 participants and a total of 1,122 effect sizes. Analyses showed that PD has a positive effect on teachers’ beliefs towards IE (d = 0,29 [0,24; 0,35]), knowledge (d = 1,02 [0,8; 1,24]), skills for its implementation (d = 0,51 [0,38; 0,66]), as well as on students’ behavior and achievement (d = 0,36, [0,22; 0,5]).

Authors

• Johanna Lowis Donath, University of Vienna
  Presenting Author

• Elisabeth Graf, University of Vienna
  Non-Presenting Author

• Timo Lüke, University of Graz
  Non-Presenting Author

• Thomas Goetz, University of Vienna
  Non-Presenting Author