Social acceptance is vital to students’ development. Being rejected by classmates can result in negative socio-emotional and academic outcomes. Finding relevant factors to be able to effectively support student social acceptance is especially challenging in inclusive classrooms because of the high heterogeneity of the student group. There is evidence that social acceptance is determined by the social behavior of students. In addition, current research suggests that affect-motivation dispositions, such as teacher attitudes, are related to teaching practices, which in turn are associated with student outcomes. This longitudinal study examines, on an individual level, the relationship between social behavior and the social acceptance of students. On a classroom level, the extent to which a teacher’s attitudes toward the inclusion of students with special educational needs affects their classroom management (i.e., implementation of clear rules and successful time management) is analyzed. In addition, the effect of teacher attitudes toward inclusion and classroom management on social acceptance in the classroom is investigated. The social acceptance of a sample of 580 students in 34 inclusive classrooms was assessed at the beginning and the end of the school year. In addition, student social behavior was rated by peers at the beginning of the school year. Teachers (n = 34) were asked about their attitudes toward inclusion at the beginning of the school year. One mathematics lesson in each classroom was videotaped to assess the teachers’ classroom management practices. Multilevel structural equation models revealed a positive relationship between student social behavior and their social acceptance in the peer group. Contrary to expectations, teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion did not predict their classroom management practices (i.e., implementation of clear rules and successful time management). As hypothesized, teachers’ classroom management predicted the level of social acceptance in the classroom, whereas teachers’ attitudes toward the inclusion of students with special educational needs did not. The study results are discussed in light of previous findings and implications for teacher education are described.

Relationship between the social participation and social skills of pupils with an intellectual disability: A study in inclusive classrooms

This study aimed to explore changes in mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, home, and school stress) from before the first COVID-19 wave (autumn 2019) to the later stages of the same wave (autumn 2020) in a sample of N = 377 Swiss adolescents (M_age = 12.67; 47% female). It also examined whether students’ background characteristics (gender, immigrant status, and socio-economic status) and reported COVID-19 burden predicted students’ outcomes and their intra-individual changes. Student’s mental health, background characteristics, and reported COVID-19 burden were assessed by a self-report questionnaire. The intra-individual changes in students’ scores were estimated using random coefficients regression analyses, with time points nested in individuals. To examine the effects of predictors (students’ background characteristics and the reported COVID-19 burden) on outcome scores and changes, multilevel intercepts-and-slopes-as-outcomes models were used. The results showed that the expected impact of the pandemic on mental health was not noticeable in the later stages of the first COVID-19 wave. Only two effects were demonstrated in terms of intra-individual changes, namely, an effect of gender on depression and anxiety symptoms and an effect of reported COVID-19 burden on school stress symptoms. Moreover, few associations were found for selected predictors and students’ mean level scores, averaged across both time points.

School closures in spring 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were an unprecedented and drastic event for students, parents, and teachers. The unplanned adaptation of classroom instruction to emergency distance learning was necessary to ensure continued education. In this new learning environment, teachers formed expectations for student academic achievement gains, which in turn affected the opportunities for students to learn. Parents faced new challenges in supporting their children’s learning. According to parenting stress models, such drastic events can be a stress factor for parents, which in turn affects their children’s adjustment. This study analyzed the extent to which parents and teachers affected the perceptions of students in compulsory school toward distance learning through processes at home (individual level) and at the class level with data from multiple informants. On an individual level, the relationship between parents’ perceived threat of COVID-19 and their stress due to distance learning and students’ perceived threat of COVID-19 and their perception of distance learning were examined. Students’ learning behavior was accounted for as a variable related to their perception of distance learning. At the class level, the explanatory character of teacher expectations and class-aggregated achievement gains were examined. Data on students in grades 4 to 8, parents, and teachers in Switzerland were collected with standardized online questionnaires after the period of school closures. A subsample of 539 students, 539 parents, and 83 teachers was analyzed. The results of multilevel structural equation modeling suggested that students had a more positive perception of distance learning if they were able to learn more autonomously (i.e., more motivated and concentrated than in regular classroom instruction) and if their parents felt less stressed in the distance learning setting. Parents were more stressed if they perceived COVID-19 as a threat. Students’ perception of the COVID-19 threat was related to their parents’ perception but did not explain students’ learning behavior. At the class level, if teachers expected high academic achievement gains in distance learning, the average academic achievement gains of a class were greater. The greater the achievement gains were, the more positive the collective student perception of distance learning was.