Do Students with Special Needs Affect Their Peers’ Academic Achievement?

The study investigates whether students with special needs (SN) affect their peers’ academic achievement in Dutch primary and secondary schools. Using nationwide administrative data from 2015–2018, researchers analyzed student performance through fixed-effects models. The findings reveal that the presence of SN students has no statistically significant impact on their peers’ cognitive outcomes. Effect sizes are close to zero across different SN subgroups, with the largest observed effect being –0.034 SD. These results suggest that inclusive education can be implemented without harming academic achievement, contrasting prior studies that found negative peer effects, particularly from students with behavioral challenges.

Full Citation and Link to Article

de Croes, Laurens, Ilja Cornelisz, Chris van Klaveren, and Nienke Ruijs. (2024). "The Effect of Students with Special Needs on Their Peers’ Cognitive Outcomes: Results from Student-Level Population Data in the Netherlands." Education Finance and Policy, 20(1), 56-94. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00422

Extended Summary

Central Research Question

The study seeks to answer whether the presence of students with special needs (SN) in mainstream classrooms affects the academic performance of their peers without SN. The researchers specifically examine cognitive outcomes in Dutch primary and secondary schools using large-scale administrative data. While prior studies have indicated potential negative effects—especially from students with behavioral or emotional challenges—this research aims to determine if such findings hold in the Netherlands' inclusive educational context.

The primary research question can be summarized as:"Do students with special needs impact the academic achievement of their peers?"

To address this question, the authors analyze different categories of SN students, including those receiving medication for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), students using antidepressants or tranquilizers, students receiving youth care services, and students under child protection supervision. By distinguishing between these groups and comparing cognitive outcomes across multiple cohorts and school settings, the study offers a nuanced view of the potential peer effects of inclusive education.

Previous Literature

The effects of SN students on their peers’ academic performance have been widely debated. Some studies report negative impacts, particularly when SN students exhibit behavioral issues that disrupt classroom learning. For instance, Carrell and Hoekstra (2010) found that exposure to students from troubled family backgrounds had long-term adverse effects on their peers’ test scores, college attendance, and earnings. Similarly, Kristoffersen et al. (2015) reported that exposure to students with psychiatric diagnoses reduced classmates’ reading and math scores.

On the other hand, other research has found little to no effect. Ruijs (2017) examined inclusive education in the Netherlands and found no significant impact of SN students on their peers' academic performance. Contreras et al. (2020) concluded that negative effects could diminish or disappear when sufficient resources and support systems are in place.

Given these mixed findings, this study contributes to the literature by applying robust statistical methods and analyzing a broader set of SN subgroups, while also accounting for additional support mechanisms outside the school setting.

Data

The study uses comprehensive administrative data from the Netherlands, covering all students in their final year of primary and secondary education between 2015 and 2018. This dataset includes student demographics, academic performance, and indicators of SN status.

The SN groups analyzed in this study include:

Students using ADHD medication (psychostimulants for externalizing behavioral problems)
Students using antidepressants or tranquilizers (for internalizing emotional problems)
Students receiving psychological youth care (for various social and mental health challenges)
Students under child protection supervision (due to severe family issues)
Students set to receive youth care or ADHD medication in the following school year

For academic performance, the study uses standardized exit exams from both primary and secondary education. In primary education, students take a nationwide final test, while in secondary education, students take subject-specific exams based on their educational track.

Methods

To estimate the effects of SN students on their peers, the study employs two empirical strategies:

School Fixed Effects Model: This approach compares differences in exposure to SN students across different cohorts within the same school. By controlling for school-specific characteristics, this method isolates the effect of SN students from broader school-level differences.
Student Fixed Effects Model (Secondary Education Only): This method takes advantage of the fact that secondary students take multiple courses with different classmates. By comparing students' performance across courses with varying numbers of SN peers, this approach removes biases stemming from unobserved student characteristics.

Both models control for individual student attributes (e.g., gender, parental education, migration background) and peer characteristics (e.g., percentage of male students, average parental education level). The analysis also includes robustness checks, such as adjusting for school-specific trends and testing for nonlinear effects.

Findings/Size Effects

The results consistently indicate that the presence of SN students has no meaningful impact on the academic achievement of their peers.

Primary Education: The school fixed effects model shows no significant relationship between the number of SN students and either test participation or final test scores. The largest observed effect (–0.034 SD) is for students exposed to peers with emotional problems, but this effect appears only in one of the robustness checks and is not consistently observed.
Secondary Education: Both the school fixed effects model and the student fixed effects model reveal no statistically significant effects. The estimated coefficients are very close to zero, with the largest effect being –0.006 SD, which is practically negligible.
Different SN Groups: Across all SN subgroups, including students who will receive additional support in the following year, the findings remain consistent—there is no substantial impact on peers’ academic outcomes.
Intervention Intensity Comparison: The study compares its findings to previous research that reported negative peer effects and concludes that its estimates are more precise and consistently smaller. Given the large sample size, the absence of significant effects suggests that any potential impact is minimal.

Conclusion

This study provides strong evidence that inclusive education does not harm the cognitive outcomes of students without special needs. While previous research has often suggested negative peer effects from disruptive students, the results from Dutch schools indicate that any such effects are either very small or non-existent.

Several key takeaways emerge from these findings:

Inclusive education can be implemented without harming academic performance: The Dutch system, which provides additional support outside the school setting, may help mitigate potential negative effects.
The context of resource allocation matters: Previous studies finding negative effects often examined systems without significant external support mechanisms. The Dutch model, which offers structured external care, may explain the absence of peer effects.
The findings challenge prior assumptions: The belief that SN students inherently disrupt learning for others may not hold in well-supported educational environments.

Overall, this study reinforces the idea that inclusive education policies can be pursued without detrimental effects on the academic success of students without SN. Future research could explore the role of additional support systems in further mitigating potential negative impacts in different educational settings.

References (Selected from the Article)

Ahn, Trogdon (2017). Peer delinquency effects on academic performance.
Carrell & Hoekstra (2010). Family violence and peer academic outcomes.
Kristoffersen et al. (2015). Psychiatric diagnoses and peer test scores.
Ruijs (2017). Special needs inclusion in Dutch schools.
Contreras et al. (2020). Special needs students and resource allocation.

This study provides a compelling case for the feasibility of inclusive education without compromising the academic achievement of students without special needs.