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The impact of special needs students on classmate performance

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  • Ruijs, Nienke

Abstract

Does the presence of special needs students in regular schools affect the academic achievement of their classmates? I examine this question in the context of primary and secondary education in the Netherlands, where the per student budget for special needs students in regular schools is roughly twice the amount of the regular student budget. I use three independent identification approaches: student fixed effects models, school fixed effects models, and neighborhood variation. For both education levels and all three identification approaches, the estimates indicate that special needs students do not have a statistically significant effect on the academic achievement of their classmates. The estimates are precise enough to rule out even modest effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruijs, Nienke, 2017. "The impact of special needs students on classmate performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 15-31.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:58:y:2017:i:c:p:15-31
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.03.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Contreras, Dante & Brante, Miguel & Espinoza, Sebastian & Zuñiga, Isabel, 2020. "The effect of the integration of students with special educational needs: Evidence from Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Auestad, May Linn, 2018. "The effect of low-achieving peers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 178-214.
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    6. Huang, Bin & Lu, Haiyang & Zhu, Rong, 2021. "Disabled Peers and Student Performance: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Pan, Zheng & Luo, Yiyang, 2023. "Peers with special needs and students’ noncognitive performance: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education economics; Inclusive education; Special needs; Peers; Achievement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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