This study examined the associations between teachers’ beliefs and behaviors related to inclusive education (IE) and their evaluations of social and academic competences in students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – important indicators of IE. Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the research investigated how teachers’ intentions to implement IE and their supportive practices affected the social and academic competences of students with ASD. The study involved 267 teachers from 78 mainstream secondary schools in Hong Kong. Teachers completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention to implement IE. Information on teachers’ practices supporting students with ASD and their evaluations of social and academic competences of these students was also collected. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships between these variables. Correlation analysis revealed positive and significant associations between teachers’ beliefs, inclusive practices, and their evaluations of social and academic competences of students with ASD. SEM indicated that perceived behavioral control significantly and positively influenced the social and academic competences of students with ASD through teachers’ inclusive practices. This study highlights the vital role of teachers’ control beliefs and inclusive practices in fostering the social and academic competences of students with ASD. By applying the TPB and SEM, the research contributes to understanding how teachers’ intentions and behaviors in implementing IE impact students’ outcomes. The findings offer practical implications for enhancing inclusive education practices for supporting students with ASD in mainstream schools. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, we explored the impact of 498 primary school teachers in Hong Kong on the competences of students with special educational needs (SEN). We found that their attitudes, control beliefs, and subjective norms about inclusive education (IE) significantly influenced their IE intentions, and subsequently their behaviors. Intentions and behaviors mediated the effect on the social and academic competencies of SEN students. Our findings, consistent across nine different SEN types, have highlighted the role of fostering positive teacher dispositions and reinforcing IE intentions and behaviors through training and peer support networks, facilitating effective IE implementation. Copyright © 2024 The Authors.

Globally prevalent, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have negative consequences on students’ social, intellectual, emotional, and post-school transition results. While assessment tools exist, the majority of them were developed from the perspective of clinical psychology and/or healthcare. Some are lengthy and commercialized, and some have weak factorial validity. A feasible and practical assessment method, from the perspective of educational psychology and assessment, is required to better accurately and effectively assess the social and academic performance of ASD students in inclusive settings. With an emphasis on teachers’ practice and output in helping students with ASD in inclusive education, this study evaluated the Practice and Product Inventory of Supporting Students with ASD (PPI-SSA) psychometric qualities. PPI-SSA was designed to be practical, concise, and especially suited for quantitative research on ASD. The inventory was administered to 411 teachers in Hong Kong, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the PPI-SSA’s reliability and validity. A follow-up path analysis examined the concurrent validity of the PPI-SSA, revealing significant pathways between teachers’ intentions to implement inclusive education and each of the respective dimensions within the PPI-SSA. Measurement invariance results showed that the PPI-SSA demonstrated configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance across primary and secondary teachers. The PPI-SSA, as a non-commercial instrument, has meaningful implications. It can facilitate the efficient collection of more empirical data on the social and academic achievements of students with ASD, informing evidence-based improvement of inclusive practices. It can assist in teachers’ practice to identify the diverse social and academic needs of students with ASD to align with their corresponding adjustments of teaching strategies. Copyright © 2023 by the authors.