Teachers Spend Less Time Teaching in Classrooms With Students With Special Needs

Debates about the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms often overlook its impact on teachers. This study analyzes the concern that teachers may spend less time teaching in classrooms with children with special needs using survey data on 121,173 teachers from 38 participating countries and partners of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013.

The study examines teacher, classroom, and school factors that may explain disparities in time spent teaching in classrooms with and without students with special needs.

The findings indicate teachers, on average, spend marginally less class time on teaching in classrooms that include more students with special needs. The disparity in teaching time is mostly removed when accounting for students with behavioral problems in classrooms.