While the relationship between self-determination and the academic achievement of students has been widely tested across cultures and groups, limited research has examined the antecedents of self-determination and their impacts on school engagement, which is the pre-requisite of academic achievement. The present study, based on the self-system processes model of motivation, tested the relationships between peer support, school support, self-determination, and school engagement in 118 secondary school students with special needs integrated into mainstream schools in Hong Kong. The results showed that school support has a significant indirect effect on school engagement via self-determination as a mediator. The correlations between school support, self-determination, and school engagement are all positive and significant, whereas peer support did not correlate with school engagement. Controlling for the factors of peer and school support, self-determination was the strongest predictor of school engagement for students with special needs. The current findings may highlight the importance of school support and self-determination interventions to enhance the school engagement of students with special needs in inclusive educational settings. Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Students with special educational needs (SEN) are at an elevated risk of psychological and behavioural dysfunctions. In this study, we conducted a survey of parents of students with SEN in Hong Kong to examine the impact of two school practices – learning support and school climate – on the psychological and behavioural functioning (PBF) of students with SEN. We also examined the mediating effects of social participation and academic engagement. Questionnaires were distributed to 586 parents in 139 primary schools. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis show that perceived school climate has a direct effect on perceived PBF, while perceived learning support does not. Perceived learning support has two indirect effects on perceived PBF, with perceived academic engagement or social participation as a mediator. The findings have implications for the effective use of educational resources to support the inclusive education of students with SEN.
[Copyright of International Journal of Disability, Development & Education is the property of Routledge.]

A core goal of inclusive education worldwide is to maximize the learning potential of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream educational settings. However, little research attention has been paid to SEN children's social and emotional gains from inclusive education compared to their academic performance. This study included social, emotional, and academic variables in a single research design, not only to test their relationships but also to explore the predictive roles of social and emotional factors in academic performance for SEN students. Participants were 515 SEN students in grades 1–6 in mainstream primary schools in Hong Kong. The results showed that the social and emotional competences of children with SEN were significant predictors of their academic performance (p < .001), with emotional competence having the larger impact. Although SEN students' relationships with peers and teachers were not found to be direct significant predictors of academic performance as reported in previous studies; they positively and significantly predicted emotional and social competences of SEN students (p < .001). Implications for establishing a caring campus, as well as developing educational interventions which will increase SEN students' positive emotional experiences and foster and maintain their adaptive social and emotional competences are discussed.
[Copyright © Springer].

Parents are key stakeholders in education and their support is pivotal to policy implementation. Through a large-scale survey, the present study investigated the validity of a structural model describing the relationship between attitude, knowledge, and perceived social norm among parents of children with special needs. Results revealed that knowledge and perceived social norm were powerful predictors of parents' attitudes towards inclusion and the two predictors were intercorrelated. Exploratory analyses on the effect of demographic variables on parents' attitudes demonstrated that male parents exhibited more positive attitudes towards inclusion than female parents; and parents of children at a higher grade level indicated less positive attitudes. Cultural issues of parents' concerns about inclusive practice are discussed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Inclusive Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2015.1037866]

Although a substantial body of studies has been focusing on exploring approaches to enhance the learning of children with special educational needs (SEN) in kindergartens, considerably fewer studies have been conducted to test early childhood educators’ confidence levels in early identifying and facilitating the learning and social development of children with SEN. This study took the initiative to conduct a large scale survey in the Chinese context, seeking to develop a good understanding of teacher preparation for identifying and supporting children with SEN. Over 5000 early childhood educators from 519 kindergartens and kindergarten-cumchild care centres (KGs) in Hong Kong participated in this survey study. Specifically, we examined these teachers’ confidence levels in terms of early identification and intervention through a wide range of instructional activities. We also investigated external needs these teachers perceived to be critically important for supporting SEN children. The role of integrated programme (IP) in these surveyed KGs on teachers’ confidence levels in supporting children with SEN was also examined. Implications of findings of the current study to early childhood education, improvements of existing facilities and resources to support teachers’ professional development are discussed.

Teaching assistants (TAs) play an influential role in primary and secondary schools. But there is an absence in literature about the TA’s efficacy, and to date no instrument is available for measuring TA’s efficacy. The present study aims to develop and validate a scale (Teaching Assistant Efficacy Scale, TAES) for measuring TA’s efficacy on identified capabilities. A total of 531 teaching assistants from Hong Kong schools participated in the survey. The multidimensional Rasch model was used to analyse the data. The results revealed that a 5-dimension structure of TA’s efficacy was supported. The final 30-item version of TAES assesses TA’s efficacy on learning support, teaching support, behaviour management, cooperation, and administrative support. The Rasch reliabilities for all five dimensions were around 0.90. The 6-category response structure worked well for the scale. Further research was recommended to validate and test the robustness of the TAES both in Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Early childhood education is the cornerstone of an education system. However, to the population of children at risk of developmental disabilities (CARDD), challenges early childhood teachers need to face are not only early identification of these children, but also development and implementations of productive interventions to reduce influences of existing deficits on their personal development and maximize these children's potential to learn. According to a statistic report by World Health Organization (2011), in a majority of countries in the world, around 14% 36 to 35% of children aged between 2 to 9 years old are at risk of developmental disorders. Seeking to provide a good understanding of teacher preparation for identifying and intervening CARDD, the present study investigated: a) the confidence level of over 3,000 teachers in a wide range of instructional activities (e.g., confidence in facilitating teaching and learning, facilitating social development, collaborating with parents and other related personnel) across 238 kindergartens, and b) the needs of early childhood teachers in supporting CARDD in Hong Kong. The role of integrated programme placing/not placing in these investigated kindergartens is also taken into account in understanding potential differences of teachers' confidence in identifying, teaching and intervening CARDD. Implications to professional development, improvements of existing facilities and resources to assist early childhood teachers in identifying and supporting children with developmental disabilities are discussed.