Background
Learners with special educational needs have been increasingly integrated into mainstream education in Switzerland and internationally. In the process of advancing inclusive education for all learners, various integrative school measures have been established in Switzerland (see InSeMa for an overview). Reduced Individual Learning Objectives (RILZ) – which involve individualized reductions in curricular objectives in one or more subjects, along with corresponding adjustments in learning content – is one of the most widespread of these measures.
Despite the significance of RILZ in everyday school life, there is very little research on its allocation, implementation and potential effects on learners’ educational achievement and attainment. Results from the Bernese Longitudinal Study BELIMA suggest that RILZ may have several potentially disadvantageous effects. Given the high pedagogical, social and political relevance of RILZ, it is crucial to gain nuanced and generalisable insights into the mechanisms associated with RILZ in order to provide a robust empirical foundation for further development of integrative school measures.
Research Questions
RILZ involves differential treatment of learners with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms, and can therefore be characterised as a form of internal differentiation. It is well known from educational research that external differentiation – such as allocation to school types with different ability requirements or special schools – is often socially selective and has significant implications for learners’ educational careers. In this context, the question arises as to whether similar mechanism are also evident in integrative school measures such as RILZ.
The RILZCHECK project addresses the allocation and effects of RILZ through five key research questions:
- How widespread is the use of RILZ, and how is it implemented across different grade levels and subjects?
- Are there systematic differences in the allocation of RILZ depending on canton, school, grade levels, or classroom?
- To what extent is the allocation of RILZ socially selective, based on characteristics such as socioeconomic status, migration background, or gender?
- How does RILZ affect learners’ educational achievement?
- How does RILZ affect learners’ transitions to lower secondary and post-compulsory education?
Methodological Approach
The allocation and effects of RILZ are studied across four cantons of Northwestern Switzerland, namely Aargau, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt and Solothurn. Since 2013, these cantons have conducted annual standardised performance tests in various subjects among all students at different stages of compulsory school. The results of these performance tests are made available to researchers as secondary data, known as the “Checks”. The RILZCHECK project establishes a data linkage between the Checks data and register data from administrative sources, allowing for a comprehensive contextualisation of the test score data. The research questions are primarily addressed using regression analysis methods, causal inference designs and machine learning techniques.
Aims
The RILZCHECK project seeks to provide novel insights into inclusive education in general, and the RILZ integrative measure in particular. In doing so, the project contributes both to educational research and to the empirical foundations needed by practitioners to further develop integrative measures. In addition to scientific publications, the empirical findings will be made accessible to a broader audience through presentations, policy briefs, and reports.