Eficacia de las prácticas inclusivas para compensar los resultados académicos de escolares con dificultades del lenguaje oral y escrito

Background and objectives

Previous studies have shown lower academic results in school children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and/or reading difficulties (RD). This paper aims to evaluate whether some of the measures proposed by the inclusive school to enrich the teaching-learning processes have a positive effect on the grades of school children with DLD or RD. Inclusive education measures that foster individualized communication skills are expected to exert a compensatory effect on pupils with difficulties.

Method

The official academic history of 103 students (26 with DLD, 36 with RD, and 41 with typical development; TD) attending 10 schools from Balearic Islands were collected. Inclusive school indicators were evaluated with ACADI's questionnaire.

Results

No significative correlations were found between official grades and school inclusivity scores for the DLD and TD groups, while three indicators of inclusivity showed correlations with the academic results in the RD group. The ANOVA (Group x Inclusivity) on the mean grade of the primary school revealed significant results of the Group factor, a tendency in the Inclusivity factor, but the interaction was non-significant. Grade retention frequency was similar between centers with indicators of high or low inclusivity, and higher in the DLD group compared to the RD and TD groups.

Discussion and conclusions

Worse academic results were found in the DLD and RD groups. Inclusion measures appear to partially compensate school children with RD, but not the DLD group. In conclusion, inclusive schools must continue looking for measures to compensate for the learning difficulties of students with DLD.