The present study focuses on the association between peer integration and the development of depressive symptoms in secondary school students. A sample of 393 7th grade students (194 boys, 199 girls, mean age = 13.38 years, sd = 0.85) was recruited from 25 secondary schools in Austria. Of these students, 34 were diagnosed as having special educational needs. The screening version of the depression questionnaire DTK-II and the subscales "social relationships" and "perceived appreciation by the teacher" from the FEESS 3-4 were used for assessment. Structural equation modeling shows that negative teacher-student relationships predict both poor peer integration and depressive symptoms. Teacher-student relationships in schools have an impact on the peer integration as well as on the mental health of students.

Scholars have studied collective teacher efficacy mainly at the school level. The present study also focuses on collective teacher efficacy expectations, but it emphasises the collaborative teaching of two teachers working together in one classroom. This study investigates personal, contextual, and systemic factors (e.g. experience, gender, class composition, pleasure with Co-teaching and its standards, knowledge about specific Co-teaching skills, the way how the team partner was chosen, etc.) that may influence collective self-efficacy expectations of Co-teacher teams. For the present study, 264 teachers who were part of a Co-teaching team finished an online questionnaire. Results from multiple regression analysis indicated that team characteristics influenced the subjective evaluation of efficacy expectations in teams much more than individual characteristics or the social context in which Co-teaching teams worked.

This study addressed the concept of 'intersectionality' relating to refugee status and disability. It examined whether differences in attitudes depending on disability type (physical disability vs. behavioural disorders) are present and how the refugee status and disability in girls interact to influence attitudes. The attitudes of 1377 participants towards the inclusion of Austrian girls with disabilities as well as of refugee girls with and without disabilities into a mainstream primary school were assessed. The respondents read a short description of a particular girl before answering a short questionnaire. In general, the respondents showed more positive attitudes towards the inclusion of Austrian girls into a mainstream primary school than towards the inclusion of refugee girls. Furthermore, attitudes were more positive towards the inclusion of girls with a physical disability than towards the inclusion of girls with behavioural disorders, regardless of the refugee status. Due to the entanglements of the disability type and refugee status demonstrated in this research, it seems clear that no pure 'disability effect' or 'refugee effect' is evidenced when examining attitudes about inclusive education. Rather, both aspects should be considered simultaneously. Furthermore, respondents' gender, educational level and cultural capital also influenced the attitudes.

The present study examined the impact of teacher team composition on characteristics and attributes regarded as necessary for effective cooperative teaching. The study focused on potential differences between self-selected teacher teams and teams composed by the school administration. The central assumptions were that teachers working in self-selected teacher teams show more positive ratings of enjoyment, shared responsibility, job satisfaction and collective self-efficacy expectations than teachers who worked in institutionally composed teams. In order to investigate these hypotheses, an online survey was created. 321 language arts teachers participated in the survey. MANCOVA revealed significant differences in the dimensions shared responsibility' and enjoyment with the co-teaching process', where teachers from self-selected teaching teams showed significantly more positive ratings. These results support the assumption that self-selection of the team-mate is helpful for establishing compatible teaching teams, but does not necessarily lead to a higher quality of collaborative teaching.

Objective: The present study examines the academic well-being of students with and without special educational needs (SEN) in inclusive classes compared to students from regular classes in which no child with SEN is taught. In addition, the relationships between the school well-being and emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behavior are analyzed. Method: A total of 1115 students from the 4th and 7th grade (37 % 4th graders, 63 % 7th graders) participated in the survey, 126 of whom had been diagnosed as having SEN. The subscale Well-Being at School taken from the FEESS 3-4 (Rauer & Schuck, 2004) and the SDQ (Goodman, 1997) were used for measurement. Results: Results indicate high reliabilities for the subscale Well-Being in School for students both with and without SEN for both grades 4 and 7. Furthermore, it could be shown that the variance explained for school well-being can be connected to elements on the students' individual level as well as on the class-specific level. Significant predictors of school well-being were sex, behavioral difficulties and strengths as well as the school grade. The SEN status (no SEN vs. SEN) and the class setting (regular vs. inclusive class) did not influence the school well-being significantly.

This study examined the implementation and outcomes of cooperative learning methods in daily school life. In the context of an intervention wait-list control group research design lasting over two years, a group of Austrian students was taught using mainly cooperative learning methods in German language arts. In addition to standardized tests, self and peer report questionnaires assessed reading ability and aspects of social behavior before and after the intervention. Focus group interviews of teachers were used to investigate the implementation of cooperative learning methods in daily class life. The participants were nineteen teachers and 294 fifth and sixth graders from eight different schools at the secondary level. The results show that teachers prefer relatively specific cooperative learning methods. The results also illustrate that students who used cooperative learning methods in German language classes developed significantly better in reading comprehension than the students in the wait-list control group. However, concerning the reports of social behavior, most differences between the two groups failed to reach statistical significance.

Fragestellung: Die vorliegende Studie untersucht das schulische Wohlbefinden von SchülerInnen mit und ohne sonderpädagogischen Förderbedarf (SPF) in Integrationsklassen im Vergleich zu SchülerInnen aus Regelklassen, in welchen keine Kinder mit SPF unterrichtet werden. Zudem werden Zusammenhänge zwischen dem schulischen Wohlbefinden und emotionalen Problemen, Verhaltensauffälligkeiten, Hyperaktivität, Problemen mit Gleichaltrigen und prosozialem Verhalten analysiert. Methodik: Insgesamt 1.115 SchülerInnen (37 % SchülerInnen der 4. Schulstufe, 63 % SchülerInnen der 7. Schulstufe) nahmen an der Befragung teil, davon hatten 126 SchülerInnen einen SPF. Als Erhebungsinstrumente wurde die Skala «Wohlbefinden in der Schule» aus dem FEESS 3–4 ( Rauer & Schuck, 2004 ) sowie das SDQ ( Goodman, 1997 ) verwendet. Ergebnisse: Die Ergebnisse weisen hohe Reliabilitäten für die Skala «Wohlbefinden in der Schule» bei SchülerInnen mit und ohne SPF in beiden Schulstufen (4. vs. 7. Schulstufe) auf. Darüber hinaus wurde gezeigt, dass die Varianzaufklärung für das schulische Wohlbefinden sowohl Anteile auf der Ebene der individuellen SchülerInnen als auch Anteile auf der klassenspezifischen Ebene aufweist. Signifikante Prädiktoren des schulischen Wohlbefindens waren das Geschlecht, Verhaltensschwächen und -stärken sowie die Schulstufe. Der SPF-Status (kein SPF vs. SPF) sowie das Klassensetting (Regel- vs. Integrationsklasse) beeinflussten das schulische Wohlbefinden jedoch nicht signifikant.

This study analyses whether an increasing inclusion rate in Austria was accompanied by a change in teachers’ educational goals and whether these goals were different for teachers in inclusive or non-inclusive settings. Educational goals were rated by 359 teachers in 1998 and 219 teachers in 2009. General pedagogical goals, as well as orientation on authority and discipline are considered less important by primary school teachers in inclusive classes than by those in schools without inclusion. The attitudes of teachers towards inclusion and teachers’ estimates of the impact of inclusion of students with different types of disabilities were not correlated in 1998, but positively correlated in 2009 with the emphasis on the individuality of the students in the class, and not correlated in 1998, but negatively correlated in 2009 with the orientation on authority and discipline. It is concluded that a positive change can be observed.

There is no international consensus concerning the diagnostic criteria used to diagnose a learning disability (LD). In fact, various diagnostic criteria are used and interpreted differently in different countries. A common denominator can only be found in the fact that intelligence quotient (IQ) is often seen as important in order to identify LD, either in the framework of discrepancy models between cognitive ability and achievement or in the context of models relating LD to below-average IQ (Grunke, 2004). The present paper examines the criteria that are used for the diagnosis of LD in Styria, a federal state of Austria. For this purpose, 25 special educational needs (SEN) reports of children identified as having learning disabilities were examined. In addition, three expert interviews with school administration authorities were conducted. The results provide a first indication that IQ scores are not important for the diagnosis of LD in Styria. In fact, the diagnostic procedure seems to be quite unregulated and standardized tests are hardly ever used in this context. Moreover, the results show that a diagnosis of LD in Styria is usually based on poor reading skills, poor basic arithmetic skills, deficits in German language, and/or behavioral problems. (C) 2013 Association ALTER. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Every school system has to deal with children with Learning Disabilities (LD). However, the concepts of LD, the assessment procedures, the diagnostic criteria as well as their interpretation vary widely from country to country. What they usually seem to have in common is that general cognitive abilities, as measured by standardized IQ tests, are seen as an important aspect of the label.. In Austrian schools the diagnosis of LD is largely based on expert opinions provided by special education teachers. The diagnostic procedure is quite unregulated and open to individual interpretation. As a rule, standardized tests are not used in this connection. In the present study the characteristics of children with a diagnosis of LD are evaluated in terms of standardized testing. Thiry-seven pupils diagnosed as having LD and 136 regular school children were assessed at the end of the 5 grade in Austrian schools using standardized tests of intelligence, reading, writing and arithmetic skills and questionnaires regarding social integration in class, emotional integration in school and cultural capital of their families. Compared with a group of pupils without LD, matched for IQ and age, the LD children showed significantly worse basic arithmetic and reading skills, inferior social integration in class and lower familial cultural capital. A stepwise logistic regression analysis indicated that poor basic arithmetic and reading skills were the strongest predictors of having a diagnosis of LD. Other variables, including IQ, had significantly less weight. The results are seen as indication of the fact that precise guidelines for diagnosing LD in the school system and a transition to a system of evidence-based allocation of resources are urgently needed.

Die integrative Beschulung von Schulern und Schulerinnen mit sonderpadagogischem Forderbedarf ist in Osterreich seit dem Jahr 1993 gesetzlich moglich. Obwohl die Gesetzgebung bundesweit einheitlich ist, unter scheiden sich die Bundeslander in den Quoten der integrativen Beschu lung der Schuler mit sonderpadagogischem Forder bedarf erheblich. Wahrend die meisten Bundeslander die schulische Integration eher verhalten umsetzten, stieg die Integrationsquote in der Steiermark innerhalb weniger Jahre rasant an und konnte auf einem sowohl im nationalen als auch im internationalen Vergleich sehr hohem Niveau gehalten werden. Anhand von drei Interviews der verantwortlichen Schulinspektorinnen (als Stakeholder) werden im nachfolgenden Beitrag die Hintergrunde fur diese Entwicklung aufgezeigt und damit die Bedingungen fur die Entstehung eines weitgehend integrativen Schulsystems illustriert und diskutiert.

In der Arbeit wird uber die Ergebnisse empirischer Studien zur Einstellung von LehrerInnen in unterschiedlichen schulischen Settings zur Frage der Integration von SchulerInnen mit sonderpadagogischem Forderbedarf berichtet. Die Datensatze der Befragungen von insgesamt 578 LehrerInnen in der Grundschulstufe in Osterreich aus den Jahren 1998 und 2009 wurden gemeinsam neu analysiert. Als Untersuchungsinstrument diente die Skala „Einstellung zur Integration in der Schule (EIS)“ von Reicher (1988). Hinsichtlich der Reliabilitat und der faktoriellen Struktur entspricht die Skala den Anforderungen, die an ein Forschungsinstrument zu stellen sind. Die inhaltliche Auswertung der erhobenen Daten zeigte, dass die LehrerInnen die Integration von SchulerInnen mit einer geistigen Behinderung als schwieriger einschatzten als die Integration von SchulerInnen mit einer korperlichen Behinderung oder einer Lernbehinderung. In Bezug auf die generelle Einstellung zur schulischen Integration ergaben sich keine Unterschiede zwischen SonderschullehrerInnen und GrundschullehrerInnen, es zeigte sich aber ein moderater Effekt des Arbeitsfeldes, in dem die Befragten arbeiteten. LehrerInnen in integrativen Arbeitsfeldern gaben in Bezug auf jede Art der Behinderung eine positivere Einstellung zur schulischen Integration an als LehrerInnen in nicht-integrativen Settings. (DIPF/Orig.) The study reports the results of several empirical studies on teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of pupils with special education needs in different academic settings. The survey’s data sets of altogether 578 primary school teachers in Austria, queried in 1998 and 2009, were reanalyzed. The chosen instrument of investigation was Reicher’s scale “Einstellung zur Integration in der Schule (EIS) [attitudes towards inclusion in school]“ (1988). Concerning reliability and factorial structure, the scale fulfills the requirements which an instrument of investigation has to achieve. With regards to content, the analysis of the data showed that teachers evaluate the inclusion of pupils with mental retardation as a greater challenge than the inclusion of pupils with physical or learning disabilities. With reference to the general attitude towards academic inclusion, there were no differences between primary school teachers and special education teachers. However, the results revealed a moderate effect of the field of work the respondents were engaged in. Teachers working in inclusive fields declare a more positive attitude towards academic inclusion than teachers in non-inclusive settings, disregarding the type of disability. (DIPF/Orig.)

A prospective study (N=503) conducted at the Department of Psychiatry, University Clinic Graz, investigated possible differences in intensity of auto-aggression tendencies, depression, hopelessness and self-communication between patients who committed or attempted suicide (failed suicide) in a 1-year follow-up (G1), patients who committed parasuicide in the period under observation (G2), and a non-suicidal control group (G3). In a final analysis (N=55), patients who committed or attempted suicide (n=16) differed from patients of the same age and sex in the non-suicidal control group (n=26) only in their greater self-aggression at the beginning of hospitalization. Patients who committed parasuicide (n=13) in the follow-up period were more auto-aggressive and more negative in their self-communication both at the beginning and end of hospitalization and were also more depressive and hopeless at the beginning of treatment than the non-suicidal control group (n=26).