Inclusive education and academic performance in Catalan public schools

ABSTRACT

In response to the challenges of the global Education 2030 Agenda (i.e. to guarantee inclusive and equitable quality education for all), this study was designed to ascertain to what extent inclusive education policies are applied in public primary schools in Catalonia (Spain). The objective was to identify the level of inclusion (LI) of the schools through an online questionnaire, and to determine the relationship of LI to the students’ academic performance in the schools, as measured by the Catalan external evaluation exam in their last year of primary education. Our findings showed advances in applying more inclusive education in the 615 participating schools. On ascertaining the LI we classified the schools according to levels of consolidation of inclusive practices, identifying both the most well-established areas and barriers to inclusion. Hence we obtained a wide spectrum of the application of inclusion in the Catalan education system. The study also showed that there was no relationship between inclusive practices and pupils’ academic performance in the schools taking part. The rigour of the procedures used and the breadth of the sample can promote evidence-based practices for the development of policy in the Catalan education system and internationally.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• level of inclusion
• academic performance
• primary schools
• public education
• survey study

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research. CONICYT, Chile. [grant number DS. N° 664/72130411 December 29^th 2008] and by Departament d’Ensenyament de la Generalitat de Catalunya [grant number 012473 May 28th 2014].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Ms Dorys Soledad Sabando Rojas has a PhD in Education from the University of Barcelona, where she is lecturer in the Department of Teaching and Learning and Educational Organization. She is a member of the research group Learning, Media & Social Interactions (LMI) and of the group for Education Support for Inclusive Education in the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) at the University of Barcelona. Her research focuses on inclusive education, pre-service teacher training in behaviour self-regulation and educational apps for early childhood.

Mr Ignasi Puigdellívol Aguadé has a PhD in Education Sciences from the University of Barcelona, where he is a lecturer in the Department of Teaching and Learning and Educational Organization. He was the Dean of the Teacher Training Faculty at the same university, where he taught on pre-service training programmes. He is a member of the research group Learning, Media & Social Interactions (LMI) and a member of the group for Education Support for Inclusive Education in the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) at the University of Barcelona. His field of research is inclusive education, particularly among minority groups and pupils with special educational needs.

Ms Mercedes Torrado Fonseca has a PhD in Education Sciences from the University of Barcelona, where she is a lecturer in the Department of Methods of Research and Diagnosis in Education. She is a member of the research group Academic and Professional Transitions (TRALS) and coordinator of the teaching innovation group MideMe (centred on innovation and development in the teaching of education research methods). She has held various positions of institutional responsibility in the university. She teaches on topics related to issues in research methodology. She has participated in and led various research projects on persistence and drop-out in universities, the identification of groups at academic risk, paths of academic transition and guidance, and the development of competences.

Notes

1 Classification for the year 2012.

2 More information: https://www.ub.edu/web/portal/en/research/research-at-the-ub/ethics-and-integrity/.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research. CONICYT, Chile. [grant number DS. N° 664/72130411 December 29th 2008] and by Departament d’Ensenyament de la Generalitat de Catalunya [grant number 012473 May 28th 2014].