The longitudinal measurement of reasoning abilities in students with special educational needs

Students with special educational needs in the area of learning (SEN-L) have learning disabilities that can lead to academic difficulties in regular schools. In Germany, these students are frequently enrolled in special schools providing specific training and support for these students. Because of their cognitive difficulties, it is unclear whether standard achievement tests that are typically administered in educational large-scale assessments (LSA) are suitable of students with SEN-L. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a short instrument for the assessment of reasoning abilities that was administered as part of a longitudinal LSA to German students from special schools (N = 324) and basic secondary schools (N = 338) twice within 6 years. Item response modeling demonstrated an essentially unidimensional scale for both school types. Few items exhibited systematic differential item functioning (DIF) between students with and without SEN-L, allowing for valid cross-group comparisons. However, change analyses across the two time points needed to account for longitudinal DIF among students with SEN-L. Overall, the cognitive test allowed for a valid measurement of reasoning abilities in students with SEN-L and comparative analyses regarding students without SEN-L. These results demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating students with SEN-L into educational LSAs. (DIPF/Orig.

Religiosity as a bridge or barrier to immigrant children's educational achievement?

Immigrant children in Europe remain in a position of educational disadvantage. Most studies underscore the role of the parents' education level and their socio-economic status in the educational achievement of their children. This paper adds to the literature by exploring other factors that reduce or contribute to educational inequality among immigrant children. Using research from the United States as a reference point, we specifically examine religiosity as a device for social mobility. Religiosity may be conducive to educational attainment in two ways: (1) religious organizations may provide guidance, support and beneficial social norms that foster the formation of social capital and sanction deviant behaviour; (2) religious participation may induce an internal locus of control that encourages students to focus on learning and resist counterproductive peer influence. Other scholars argue that ethno-religious in-group ties can be a mobility trap when human capital and socio-economic status in an immigrant community is low. Using the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we take a cross-sectional perspective to test these arguments for Christian and Muslim students of immigrant origin living in Germany. Our analyses reveal that religiosity is primarily relevant for Muslims' mathematical test performance. We find that students and parents' religiosity are not necessarily a barrier to good mathematical test performance. Yet our multidimensional measure of religiosity consisting of religious engagement, praying and subjective religiosity allows us to uncover distinct relationships depending on the form of religiosity. Christians' and Muslims' frequency of praying is positively linked to academic performance. Self-rated religiosity, however, is correlated with worse performance. Finally, we find that religious community engagement is related to better academic performance only when the share of co-ethnics in a residential area is low

Is There an Association Between Attending an Inclusive Educational Setting and the Self-Esteem of Students Without Special Educational Needs?

Vergleiche in sozialen Interaktionen sind zentral für das individuelle Selbstwertgefühl. Inwiefern heterogene Bezugsgruppen hinsichtlich sozialen und ethnischen, aber auch körperlichen, geistigen und kognitiven Merkmalen und Voraussetzungen, wie sie nicht erst seit Ratifizierung der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention in Klassen des allgemeinen Bildungssystems zu finden sind, das Selbstwertgefühl bedingen, ist noch unzureichend beantwortet. Qualitative Studien zeigen bislang, dass Schüler:innen ohne sonderpädagogischen Förderbedarf (SPF) selbstwertförderliche Erfahrungen machen, sobald sie eine inklusive Umgebung besuchen. Quantitative Arbeiten deuten dagegen auf einen negativen Zusammenhang zwischen inklusivem Lernkontext und individuellem Selbstwertgefühl hin. Allerdings wurden in bisherigen Arbeiten meist nur Merkmale des Lernkontextes oder des Individuums als Prädiktoren herangezogen. Mit Daten des Nationalen Bildungspanels wird daher untersucht, ob Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Besuch einer inklusiven Klasse an Regelschulen und dem Selbstwertgefühl von Schüler:innen ohne SPF unter Kontrolle individueller und kontextueller Merkmale bestehen. Mehrebenenanalysen zeigen, dass Schüler:innen ohne SPF generell und auch bei einer zunehmend inklusiven Klassenkomposition von einem geringeren Selbstwertgefühl berichten als Peers in Klassen ohne Schüler:innen mit SPF. Dieser Zusammenhang besteht nicht mehr, sobald für den besuchten Bildungsgang und die sozioökonomische Klassenkomposition kontrolliert wird.Comparisons in social interactions are central to the individual self-esteem. The extent to which heterogeneous reference groups in terms of social and ethnic, but also physical, mental and cognitive characteristics and prerequisites, as they can be found in classes of the general education system not only since the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities, determine self-esteem, is still insufficiently answered. Qualitative studies have so far shown that students without special educational needs (SEN) gain self-esteem promoting experiences as soon as they attend inclusive environments. However, quantitative ones indicate a negative association between inclusive learning environment and individual self-esteem. Up to now, mainly either characteristics of the environment or of the individual have been used as predictors. Data of the National Educational Panel Study are used to examine whether there is an association between attending an inclusive class in regular schools and the self-esteem of students without SEN under control of individual and contextual characteristics. Multilevel analyses show, that in general and in terms of an increasingly inclusive class composition students without SEN report lower self-esteem than peers attending classes without students with SEN do. This association no longer exists as soon as course of education and socioeconomic class composition are controlled

The Longitudinal Measurement of Reasoning Abilities in Students With Special Educational Needs

Students with special educational needs in the area of learning (SEN-L) have learning disabilities that can lead to academic difficulties in regular schools. In Germany, these students are frequently enrolled in special schools providing specific training and support for these students. Because of their cognitive difficulties, it is unclear whether standard achievement tests that are typically administered in educational large-scale assessments (LSA) are suitable of students with SEN-L. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a short instrument for the assessment of reasoning abilities that was administered as part of a longitudinal LSA to German students from special schools (N = 324) and basic secondary schools (N = 338) twice within 6 years. Item response modeling demonstrated an essentially unidimensional scale for both school types. Few items exhibited systematic differential item functioning (DIF) between students with and without SEN-L, allowing for valid cross-group comparisons. However, change analyses across the two time points needed to account for longitudinal DIF among students with SEN-L. Overall, the cognitive test allowed for a valid measurement of reasoning abilities in students with SEN-L and comparative analyses regarding students without SEN-L. These results demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating students with SEN-L into educational LSAs

Übergänge nach der Schule als "zweite Chance"? Eine quantitative und qualitative Analyse der Ausbildungschancen von Schülerinnen und Schülern aus Förderschulen "Lernen"

Die Studie beschreibt erstmals deutschlandweit die Ausbildungschancen von FörderschülerInnen mit »Lernbehinderung« und untersucht quantitativ und qualitativ, wie diese erklärt werden können. Überprüft wird, welche Bedeutung der Förderschulbesuch sowie die Berufs- und Rehaberatung der Agenturen für Arbeit für die Übergänge nach der Schule haben. Zudem wird analysiert, wie erklärt werden kann, dass manchen Jugendlichen der Übergang in Ausbildung trotz vieler Hindernisse gelingt. Damit trägt die Studie wesentlich zum Verständnis von Bildungsarmut im Lebensverlauf und der Debatte um »schulische Inklusion« bei. (DIPF/Orig.