Special Education

Influence of the ‘Learning Disability’ label on teachers' performance expectations — A matter of attitudes towards inclusion?

In our study of 429 special and regular education teachers, we examined the impact of a 'Learning Disability' (LD) label on teachers' performance expectations. Teachers exposed to the LD label had lower expectations for the student's academic achievement. Special education teachers showed lower expectations overall, but positive attitudes towards inclusion appeared to mitigate some negative effects of the LD label.

Evaluierung der Vergabepraxis des sonderpädagogischen Förderbedarfs (SPF) in Österreich

This study examined the special educational needs (SEN) allocation practices across Austrian federal states by (a) surveying the current allocation practices, (b) exploring the reasons for disparities among the states, and (c) conducting a process analysis from all stakeholders' perspectives. The research comprised four sub-studies: data analysis on 26,102 compulsory school pupils with SEN to analyze socio-demographic, disability forms, and educational pathways differences; a survey (N = 289) among teachers, parents, and school officials on the SEN assessment processes; an analysis of assessments and decisions (N = 454; 13,705 pages) to identify quality characteristics in SEN allocation; and expert interviews (N = 31) to provide a comprehensive view of the allocation process.

Entwicklung und Erprobung eines Fragebogens zur Messung von Einstellungen zu Lernenden mit externalisierenden Verhaltensproblemen

In this study we developed and tested a new instrument to understand how teachers perceive students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. The survey effectively measures teachers' attitudes and can be freely used to improve inclusive education practices.

Entwicklung von Unterrichtsmaterial zum Uhrenlernen und erste Evaluation im Multiple Baseline Design

Es wurden didaktische Materialien zur Verbesserung des Uhrlesens und des Zeitverständnisses entwickelt und in einem MBD mit sechs Teilnehmerinnen evaluiert. Insgesamt bestätigt sich das große Potential der modularen Materialreihe. Sie sind frei als Open Educational Resource frei verfügbar.

Does the 'Learning Disability' label lower teachers’ performance expectations?

We investigated the influence of the learning disability label on performance expectations among prospective teachers in Germany. Using an experimental design with 276 participants, they read a description of a student with academic problems, with only the experimental group having the student labeled as having a learning disability. Results revealed no significant main effect of the learning disability label, but prospective special education teachers had partially lower performance expectations than regular education teachers.

Does Professional Development Effectively Support the Implementation of Inclusive Education? A Meta‑Analysis

We conducted a meta-analysis of 342 studies to examine the effectiveness of professional development for teachers regarding inclusive education. We found positive effects on all outcome categories, including large effects on teachers' knowledge and moderate effects on teachers' skills. Long-term training with high practical relevance and active learning opportunities was found to be most effective.

Leistungsbewertung und Leistungsattribution

Outlines how open science practices can help special and inclusive education researchers to make the research process more transparent and communication with the research community more open and immediate. Offers a commentary on how this is nothing else than a revival of broadly accepted scientific values.

Open Science als Weg zu verlässlicher sonderpädagogischer Forschung

Outlines how open science practices can help special and inclusive education researchers to make the research process more transparent and communication with the research community more open and immediate. Offers a commentary on how this is nothing else than a revival of broadly accepted scientific values.

Validity and Judgment Bias in Visual Analysis of Single-Case Data

We had 186 pre-service teachers visually analyze single-case graphs, representing an intervention effect, a baseline trend, both, or no change at all. The presence of a baseline trend increased type I errors from 5% to 25%. Inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were low, particularly for graphs including a baseline trend.