'Pupils with behavioral problems benefit from special education'
Pupils with behavioral problems that researcher Inge Zweers followed for a year and a half appeared to function better in special education than in regular education with extra support. Zweers obtained his doctorate from Utrecht University last week.
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For her PhD research, Zweers followed a group of students with behavioral problems for a year and a half. It concerned pupils in groups 4 to 6 of regular primary education who were about to receive extra support. Some of the pupils received this support in regular education, others went to special education. She followed both groups in the study.
“My dissertation shows that you should not fully strive to phase out special education,” says Zweers. The research goes against the current trend and policy of placing more and more students in regular education with extra support. “You can question that. Phasing out special education does not seem to be worth pursuing, because my research shows that, on average, pupils function better in special education in the social-emotional area. I am not saying that all students should now be referred to special education. But you can think about more cooperation between special education and regular education. ”
Better performances
The pupils in special education followed after a year and a half achieved better learning performance, according to Zweers. They scored higher on technical reading, spelling and arithmetic. In the social-emotional field, too, things went better than in regular education. Students in special education initially had more conflicts with their teachers, but the conflicts decreased over time in this group. "The amount of conflicts between pupils with behavioral problems in mainstream education remained stable," says Zweers. The researcher also looked at the self-confidence of the students, but there was no difference on this point.
The self-confidence of the teacher appears to play a role in the choice between extra support in regular education or referral to special education. “Teachers who have more confidence in their own abilities and effectiveness, more often refer their students from their regular class to special education. One possible explanation is that they know their own limits better. The teachers who opted for extra support in mainstream education were less sure of themselves. A surprising outcome, ”says Zweers.
Teachers who have more confidence in their own abilities and effectiveness refer their pupils from their regular class more often to special education. A possible explanation is that they know their own limits better.
Context
Teacher factors thus play a role in the referral of the student with behavioral problems. “We expect that it often depends on the student characteristics where someone ends up. But that turns out not to be the case in my study. ”
When making a choice, it is important to take the entire context of a student into account and not just look at what a student cannot do. Zweers: “Often the focus is on the diagnosis and what is not going well with a student. But you also have to include the context. For example, the acceptance by peers, the interaction between the student and the teacher, and the resources that a school has at its disposal. That may also be related to the problem. For example, that you ask the question: what does a teacher need to deal with the behavioral problem?”
Zweers's dissertation does not indicate whether schools should now refer students to special education more often or whether regular education should change to better meet the support of students with behavioral problems. 'However, it seems obvious that one or both is necessary', the PhD candidate writes in the conclusion of the thesis. 'Given the current policy, it therefore seems necessary that mainstream schools are better able to deal with the extra educational needs of pupils with behavioral problems.'
The thesis: 'Shape sorting students for special education services?' You can read by Inge Zweers at this link.
