Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs最新文献

High-quality teacher–student relationships are related to a wide range of positive student outcomes, especially in students with special educational needs. To enable tailored support to help teachers engage in positive relationships with these students, it is important to identify and understand the different types of teacher–student relationships that can emerge in this context. Aims of this study were to identify distinct teacher–student relationship types in special education and characterize these in terms of students' gender, problem behaviour, underachievement and teacher-perceived supporting ability. We explored consensus regarding perceived relationship-quality across teachers and students. In a cross-sectional design, 27 upper elementary special education teachers participated with 340 students (66.8% boys; Mage = 10.83). A latent profile analysis based on teacher reports revealed five relationship types: a close (52.9%), moderate (25.3%), ambivalent (8.8%), distanced (7.4%) and conflicted (5.6%) relationship. Student reports revealed three relationship types: close (65.9%), moderate (25.0%) and conflicted (9.1%). A high-quality, close relationship type was associated with less student problem behaviour and lower teacher-perceived supporting ability than lower-quality relationship types. Teachers and students had different perspectives on their shared relationship. These findings advance our understanding of the complexity of the dyadic teacher–student relationship and may inform interventions to enhance relationship quality.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) allows alternate pathways for school districts to identify and classify students with a specific learning disability (SLD). Response to Intervention (RtI) is one of the frameworks schools can use when eliminating the use of the discrepancy model. The premise of RtI posits that tiered instruction can assist all students who are struggling through utilizing research-based interventions. When these tiers of intervention services are exhausted with limited to no response to the intervention, a child can be classified under the SLD category. There are documented concerns with effective implementation of RtI frameworks. This qualitative exploratory study examined the perceptions of teachers in a graduate education program regarding the knowledge, usage and implementation of RtI to classify students with a SLD. Through thematic analysis, findings indicate a need for more training in districts, better preparation at the university level and more support in applying RtI in the classroom. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Newly qualified teachers face several risk factors when entering the teaching profession as novice teachers. This study addressed the gap in knowledge by exploring the risk factors they face in special educational needs schools for learners with physical disabilities. Eight newly qualified teachers were selected purposefully as participants for this study. Qualitative techniques such as a focus group and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse data. Emotional challenges, lack of support from school authorities, inadequate induction and training, resource shortages and poor maintenance of infrastructure emerged as risk factors faced by newly qualified teachers. In alignment with these findings, the study underscored the role of policymakers, school administrators and teacher training institutions in developing interventions to combat the risk factors faced by newly qualified teachers in special educational needs schools for learners with physical disabilities.

The relationships among teachers' knowledge, use, and perceived effectiveness of inclusive instructional practices for students with emotional disturbance (ED) has implications for the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE). We unpacked these nuanced relationships through mediation analysis. Data for our study came from a broader survey investigation of inclusive instruction for students with ED in one of the northeastern states in the United States. The sample consisted of 176 teachers who were mostly female (85%) with an average of 12 years of teaching experiences. We found that (a) the relationship between teachers' reported knowledge and use of inclusive instructional practices was bidirectional, (b) special education teachers were far more likely to implement specialized instructional practices such as behavioural support and differentiation than general education teachers and (c) there were no reported differences in instructional practices (i.e. general practices) and classroom management between special education and general education teachers. Implications for pre-service teacher training, professional development and teacher support are discussed.

There is an abundance of literature on health-related outcomes for children and young people with Prader-Willi syndrome and on their lived experiences as well as on their caregivers'. However, little is known about the experiences of education practitioners when providing for them. This study gathered in-depth evidence of the lived experience of school staff in two secondary specialist schools, on (1) perceptions of functioning and participation of young people with Prader-Willi syndrome in the setting and (2) how prepared they felt to support them in achieving full participation, including challenges faced. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six school staff and transcripts were analysed both deductively (using the ICF classification system) and inductively. School staff perceive the needs of these pupils as mostly related to their body functions, in alignment with a medicalised understanding of disability. However, they recognise the key role of environmental modifications to address these. Staff feel mostly unprepared and perceive their training as limited. Despite wide recognition of the need to conceive disability holistically, medicalised understandings are still present. Training from a biopsychosocial perspective is needed. Future research should address the development of core sets of ICF codes for people with Prader-Willi syndrome.

In the context of special and inclusive education, applying evidence-based practice (EBP) is important for providing equal access to effective and efficient education for students, regardless of their ability status. However, there is a relevant research-practice gap in this area. To better understand how teachers can be supported using evidence-based interventions and to identify training and development needs, we developed a questionnaire on attitudes towards EBP and piloted it with a sample of 809 teachers in Germany. The factor structure was determined using categorical exploratory factor analysis in half of the sample and then confirmed using categorical confirmatory factor analysis in the other half. Good model fit and factor reliability were observed. The instrument is measurement-invariant between general and special education teachers. As expected, we found more positive attitudes towards EBP among special education teachers. No significant differences were observed between the different age groups. Based on these findings, it can be assumed that the measurement instrument is suitable for use in implementation research, as well as in the evaluation of initial and in-service teacher training programmes. Further studies on convergent, divergent and prognostic validities are necessary.

The attitude of teachers towards inclusive education is a key issue for the success of inclusive education. Many studies have been designed to assess teachers' attitudes, but none have looked at the bias caused by teachers' non-response to questionnaires on their attitudes. Non-response biases are difficult to identify because it is impossible to access the responses of individuals who do not wish to reply. It is therefore necessary to use other data. This article examines the non-response biases of teachers in questionnaires about their attitude towards inclusive education by cross-checking the responses of parents of children with a disability (N = 382) regarding the quality of their child's inclusion and the responses or non-responses of teachers to questionnaires about their attitude (N = 48 responses). This study shows that the non-responses of teachers are not random and are associated with poorer well-being and social inclusion at school, a lower sense of belonging and higher levels of bullying. This significant non-response bias of teachers leads us to question the existence of a potential positivity bias in previous studies.

This paper reports an exploratory pilot study- which is part of a larger study- examining the impact of an innovative approach to enhancing the writing skills of primary school students with dyslexia, digital storytelling (DST), linked to critical and cultural learning. The study adopted a single-subject design with a pre-experimental approach (A-B) to explore connections between the use of digital storytelling, and children's writing skills, as well as cultural and critical dimensions of learning. A socio-cultural framework, drawing on Green's 3D model, and the Not-So Simple View of Writing, informed the methodology adopted. A dual perspective aligning with the socio-cultural theory was adopted, delving into both product and process of digital storytelling. The results revealed significant improvements in writing skills, cultural and critical behaviours, pre and post intervention, with large effect sizes, suggesting this may be a promising classroom approach to improve literacy and learning in children with dyslexia.

This qualitative study investigated the support Students with Special Needs (SSN) receive and the challenges providers of such assistance face at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). The university has witnessed a significant increase in the number of SSN, and their effective learning depends heavily on the support available. This study was conducted at the UDSM—Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Mlimani campus through semi-structured interviews with 15 participants, and the collected data were analysed thematically. This study established that the UDSM's efforts to support SSN include establishing a dedicated centre, procuring modern assistive devices, recruiting specialist staff and personal assistants (PAs) to provide individualised and tailored assistance. Additionally, the university has developed comprehensive policies and guidelines to regulate the services provided to SSN. However, several challenges were reported, including lecturers' reluctance to submit examinations and lecture notes to SSN, reluctance of some students to disclose their disabilities, scarcity of experts and some SSN turning support services into income generating project. Despite the UDSM efforts to support SSN, further initiatives are imperative to enhance inclusive education in higher education.

Reasonable accommodations (RA) for children with special educational needs (SEN) need to be decided in collaboration with all stakeholders. Even though parents play a crucial part in the inclusive school trajectory or their child with SEN, they often miss a clear role in this decision-making process. In this research, using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), six parents of children with SEN were questioned. The analysis showed that parents are bound to the decisive character of school professionals and find themselves along the spectrum of being actively involved to being followers. There are often opposite perspectives, and in many cases insufficient RA are decided upon according to parents. This resulted in diagnostic trajectories and a search for support outside the school environment. In many cases, parents perceived the decision-making process on RA for their child with SEN as a life-long journey and a never-ending process. In the end, enabling factors were expressed by parents that facilitated the decision-making process on RA.