Does the educational setting matter: school quality of life of students with special education needs?

Inclusive education is presumed to enhance the school quality of life (QoL) of students with special-education needs (SEN), with educational contexts playing a vital role. Students’ sex may also affect their perception of school QOL. This study compared the school QoL of typically developing (TD) students with two groups of students with SEN: fully included in general education classrooms (SEN-I) and those attending self-contained classrooms (SEN-S). The sample included 544 Israeli students in Grades 3–6: 485 TD, 41 SEN-I, and 18 SEN-S. Students filled-out the Quality of Life at School Questionnaire, measuring Attitudes towards School, Student-Teacher Relationship and Psychosocial Aspects. No significant group differences in the total school QoL score were found, but boys in the SEN-S group perceived their Psychosocial QoL as lower compared to the girls in this group. Encouragingly, students with SEN in different educational settings have similar school QoL. Yet, surprisingly, fully included students did not perceive their school QoL as higher than their peers attending self-contained classrooms. These findings may inform stake-holders as to the need to consider venues for improving school QoL of students with special-education needs placed in general education settings. Highlights Inclusive education aims to enhance SQoL of special-education needs students (SEN). The evidence of the effect of inclusive education service types on SQoL is limited. SEN students, fully included and in self-contained classes, showed similar SQoL. Stake-holders need to find means for improving SQoL of fully included SEN students.