Evaluation of Supports for Inclusive Education

Abstract

This chapter describes inclusion processes and their evaluation in school contexts. It addresses the question of the assessment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as the assessment of factors related to inclusion. As an example, data from a study carried out with schoolchildren with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in Spain (n = 249) will be presented. The research was carried out with schoolchildren between 5 and 17 years of age. The methodology used was the evaluation through a support needs assessment scale and analysis of the scores obtained on the scale. The results have indicated very intense support needs in most of the people with ASD evaluated and more intense in scale values in support areas related to inclusion than other populations with intellectual disabilities but without autism. The results suggest the importance of having reliability measures that allow assessing the intensity of the support needs of schoolchildren, with or without intellectual disabilities, and that help to promote support systems based on evidence of effectiveness.