Accommodations, modifications, and special education interventions: influence on teacher expectations

ABSTRACT

Students with special educational needs (SEN) are at risk of lower teacher expectations due to disability-related negative labelling effects. In most educational systems, students with SEN receive measures such as accommodations (adjustments of the learning/assessment conditions), curriculum modifications (adjustments of the learning objectives), or additional support from special education teachers to support inclusion in regular school. Here, we examine whether the receipt of such measures, even in the absence of a formally assessed SEN or disability diagnosis, is sufficient to evoke negative labelling effects. Using data from 110 lower secondary school classes in Switzerland, we show that students with reduced learning objectives or individual support by a special education teacher get systematically underestimated by their teachers regarding their cognitive abilities, although this is not the case for students receiving accommodations. These findings provide important implications for the application of such measures and the prevention of educational inequalities.

KEYWORDS:

• teacher expectations
• special educational needs
• curriculum modifications
• accommodations
• labelling bias

Acknowledgements

This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Caroline Sahli Lozano

Caroline Sahli Lozano is professor at the Bern University of Teacher Education in Switzerland and head of the Inclusive Education research programme. Her research interests are in social inequalities in education, effects of inclusive education policies and development of inclusive education practices.

Kathrin Brandenberg

Kathrin Brandenberg is a research assistant at the Bern University of Teacher Education in Switzerland. Her research interests are in social inequalities in education, allocation mechanisms of integrative school measures and their long-term effects on students’ academic development.

Anne Sophie Ganz

Anne Sophie Ganz is a research assistant at the Bern University of Teacher Education in Switzerland. Her research interests are in the allocation mechanisms of integrative school education measures and their effects on student’s social-emotional classroom participation.

Sergej Wüthrich

Sergej Wüthrich is a post-doc researcher at the Bern University of Teacher Education in Switzerland. His research interests are in social inequalities in education, teacher perceptions of inclusive education and peer social networks in inclusive classrooms.