University of Teacher Education in Special Needs

Introduction Learning to write is a complex task involving peripheral (e.g., handwriting speed and legibility) and central (e.g., spelling) processes. Coordinating these processes is particularly demanding for novice writers who have not yet automated their handwriting skills. To better support children in developing handwriting, it is crucial to understand the development and interactions of these peripheral and central processes over time. Methods This longitudinal study (n = 363; 49.8% girls) investigated the development and interrelations of handwriting speed (time spent on writing tasks), legibility, and spelling in German-speaking first-grade children (Mage = 7 years) across 12 months. The children were assessed at three time points, spaced 6 months apart, from the beginning of the first grade to the start of the second grade. Results and discussion While performance in all domains of handwriting (time, legibility, and spelling) improved over the school year, these skills were particularly strongly interrelated at the beginning of writing acquisition but became increasingly independent towards the second grade. Surprisingly, the results from the structural equation model showed that the relations between handwriting legibility and time reversed over time: Initially, faster handwriting was associated with more legible handwriting, while with increasing practice a trade-off appeared. Furthermore, when considering cross-lagged paths, the structural equation model revealed that handwriting legibility at the beginning of the first grade significantly predicted subsequent handwriting time and spelling abilities at the end of the school year. In summary, handwriting proficiency stabilizes quickly, while patterns of associations between peripheral and central handwriting processes change across the first year of handwriting instruction.

Introduction Sign language fluency is an area that has received very little attention within research on sign language education and assessment. Therefore, we wanted to develop and validate a rating scale of fluency for Swiss German Sign Language (Deutschschweizerische Gebärdensprache, DSGS). Methods Different kinds of data were collected to inform the rating scale development. The data were from (1) focus group interviews with sign language teachers (N = 3); (2) annotated DSGS data from users/learners with various levels of proficiency (i.e., deaf native signers of DSGS, hearing sign language interpreters, and beginning learners of DSGS, approximately CEFR level A1-A2) (N = 28) who completed different signing tasks that were manipulated by preparation time; (3) feedback from raters (N = 3); and (4) complimented with theory from spoken and sign language fluency. Results In the focus group interview, sign language teachers identified a number of fluency aspects. The annotated DSGS data were analyzed using different regression models to see how language background and preparation time for the tasks can predict aspects of fluency (e.g., number and duration of pauses). Whereas preparation time showed only a slight effect in the annotated data, language background predicted the occurrence of fluency features that also informed the scale development. The resulting rating scale consisted of six criteria, each on a six-point scale. DSGS performances (N = 162) (same as the annotated data) from the different groups of DSGS users/learners were rated by three raters. The rated data were analyzed using multi-facet Rasch measurement. Overall, the rating scale functioned well, with each score category being modal at some point on the continuum. Results from correlation and regression analysis of the annotated data and rated DSGS performances complemented validity evidence of the rating scale. Discussion We argue that the different sources of data serve as a sound empirical basis for the operationalized “DSGS fluency construct” in the rating scale. The results of the analyses relating performance data to ratings show strong validity evidence of the second version of the rating scale. Together, the objective fluency measures explained 88% of the variance in the rating scores.

Children from disadvantaged families are at greater risk of developing regulation difficulties. Research suggests that family-level resources such as parental education or income are related to self-regulation development. However, most studies looking at the role of family resources have used single estimators of socioeconomic status or applied a composite score, neglecting that an interplay of resources may affect self-regulation outcomes. In N = 248 at-risk children (Mage:65.7 months, 51% female), we examined the effect of economic, cultural, and social family resources on behavioral self-regulation in kindergarten. Results showed that family income, maternal education, and available help in child-rearing predicted the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task performance. The results indicate that behavioral self-regulation is associated with different family resources beyond socioeconomic status.

Students with German as a second language (GSL students) have to cope with a huge volume of language learning. This is increasingly evident in early foreign language lessons in English or French. As a result, GSL students are faced with the challenge of having to learn another foreign language in a foreign language. As part of this study, a virtual learning unit (VRLU) for communicating in French for children with German as a second language (GSL) was developed using the teaching book "dis donc!" and tested with five GSL children in a sixth grade class. It was investigated how the VRLU affects motivation and to what extent it provides the GSL students with low-threshold access to communication. The research paradigm for this study is based on "Design Science Research". It combines current language learning and behavioral theories as well as design aspects relating to virtual reality. Diagnostic methods such as direct behavioral observation, flow questionnaires and various interviews were used in four field tests. It was shown that the VRLU developed specifically for the GSL students had a positive effect on the motivation of the students as well as on the confident and clear speaking of the foreign language French. Various scaffolds (aids) used in the VRLU proved to be effective. The most popular scaffolds among the GSL learners were the explanations in their first language (L1), the modelled repetitions and superimposed dialog boxes. On the one hand, the data from this study shows the great potential of VRLU for the tailored foreign language acquisition of GSL students. On the other hand, the study also clearly showed that the development of VRLU is a multidisciplinary and time-consuming challenge.

The transition from university education to daily work at school is recognised as a significant challenge for teachers and special education teachers, termed 'reality shock'. This study investigates the role of mentalising-the capacity to perceive and interpret behaviour based on intentional mental states-and teaching-related self-efficacy as potential intrapsychic mechanisms that mediate the impact of current stress experiences on the development of stress-related symptoms and declines in well-being. Analysing data from 696 novice special education teachers in southern Germany, a structural equation model revealed that mentalising and teaching related self-efficacy mediate the relationship between stress experiences, the levels of stress-related symptoms, and impaired well-being. Furthermore, the findings suggest that both psychological processes may reflect largely independent coping mechanisms. Practical implications are discussed.

School transfers may be particularly challenging for students with special educational needs (SEN), and may negatively impact academic and social outcomes for these students. In countries with multiple placement options for students with SEN, although transfers between different types of placements are plausible, studies on this phenomenon are rare. The current study investigates individual placement trajectories over 11 years of compulsory education, using administrative data from a Swiss canton (i.e. federal state) about students with intensive SEN support. We employed sequence analysis to describe individual characteristics of placement trajectories (type of placements attended, number and timing of transfers), and to identify typical placement trajectories. Findings indicate that students with SEN experience frequent placement transfers, however, high variability between individual placement trajectories exists. Four clusters representing typical placement trajectories emerged. The clusters differed in the placements predominately attended by students, the number of transfers experienced, as well as in the distribution of students' age, gender and first language. These differences may reflect variations between clusters in the type and severity of students' SEN. Our study results underscore the importance of understanding the dynamics of placement trajectories for students with SEN, contributing valuable insights into the complexities of their educational journeys.

The study examines the influence of teacher feedback in the relationship between peer rejection and student level predictors of rejection. Feedback on academic performance and social behaviour recorded during a standardised lesson was analysed for each of 36 Grade 1–3 classes (N = 709). Student social behaviour, academic achievement, and language skills were assessed at the start of the school year. Peer rejection was assessed at both the beginning and end of the school year. Three types of feedback behaviour were identified: Teachers who gave most negative feedback on social behaviour, those who gave most positive feedback on academic performance, and those who gave less feedback, positive or negative. Results provide evidence for the moderating role of teacher behaviour in the relationship between student academic achievement and peer rejection. In classrooms with the highest proportion of positive feedback on academic performance, academic achievement predicted peer rejection and there was a decrease in peer rejection over an academic year.

Computation competence (CC) with non-counting (NC) strategies is an important aim of Grade 1 mathematics education, but studies have shown that many students struggle to acquire these skills and continue to rely on counting strategies in later years. Therefore, even though counting is an important first strategy for young children, it is vital to support the development of CC with NC strategies from the earliest stages of mathematics education. This study examined the success of an intervention to promote the use of CC and NC strategies and conceptual subitizing (CS). The study was conducted with a sample of N=1017 Grade 1 students, and investigated whether the achievement gain was affected by the intervention setting: cooperative learning, individual support for low achievers, a combination of the two settings, and a control group. Students in the combined setting had greater achievement gains in CC with NC strategy use and CS than the control group and outperformed those in the other intervention groups in CS. The combined setting also benefitted low achievers in mathematics for CS, but not for CC and strategy use. A combination of cooperative learning and individual support seems to be the best option for improving the CS and CC and NC strategy use of first graders, especially low achievers in mathematics.

Although automated spoken language assessment is rapidly growing, such systems have not been widely developed for signed languages. This study provides validity evidence for an automated web application that was developed to assess and give feedback on handshape and hand movement of L2 learners’ Swiss German Sign Language signs. The study shows good machine-internal and human-machine agreement through many-facet Rasch analysis. Learner perceptions examined through questionnaire responses indicate that the automated system occasionally generated ratings which impacted the quality of feedback at the level of individual signs for individual learners. Implications are discussed from a learning-oriented assessment perspective.

Executive functioning (EF) is an important predictor of cognitive development. We examined early EF development longitudinally during the first three years of life and investigated the effect of psychosocial stress, early-term birth, and early childhood intervention on EF development. The families with psychosocial stress participated in a longitudinal RCT study implementing the home-visiting intervention program Parents-as-Teachers (PAT) (intervention group, N=121 and control group, N=111). Birth status (early-term, N=69; on-term, N=163) and family stress (high stress, N=68, low stress, N=164) were predictors of EF. EF components that were extracted from the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development measurement (BSID-III, 2006) showed changes between 1 and 3 years. A negative effect of family‘s psychosocial stress on child‘s development of EF was found during first three years, while the PAT intervention had a positive effect. Early-term birth had a moderate association with EF development. Implications for early childhood interventions are discussed.

Text simplification refers to the process of increasing the comprehensibility of texts. Automatic text simplification models are most commonly evaluated by experts or crowdworkers instead of the primary target groups of simplified texts, such as persons with intellectual disabilities. We conducted an evaluation study of text comprehensibility including participants with and without intellectual disabilities reading unsimplified, automatically and manually simplified German texts on a tablet computer. We explored four different approaches to measuring comprehensibility: multiple-choice comprehension questions, perceived difficulty ratings, response time, and reading speed. The results revealed significant variations in these measurements, depending on the reader group and whether the text had undergone automatic or manual simplification. For the target group of persons with intellectual disabilities, comprehension questions emerged as the most reliable measure, while analyzing reading speed provided valuable insights into participants’ reading behavior.

Adaptive learning support provided by kindergarten teachers before and after (macro-adaptive learning support) as well as during mathematical learning activities (micro-adaptive learning support) is a cross-cutting concept of teaching quality. Effective adaptive learning support enhances children’s learning. However, providing it is challenging and teachers need professional development (PD) to improve the quality of their support. This study investigates the mediating role of teaching quality between PD programs for kindergarten teachers and the development of children’s mathematical competency. 122 kindergarten teachers and their 825 pupils participated in the study. The teachers were randomly assigned to three groups. Two groups attended PD sessions designed to foster either macro- or micro-adaptive learning support. The third was the materials-only control group. The data was analyzed using a self-developed rating instrument focusing on generic and domain-specific elements of teaching quality related to macro- and micro-adaptive learning support. The multilevel latent change model analysis revealed that the PD programs had positive and significant effects on the teaching quality of kindergarten teachers. A significant positive relationship was also found between micro-adaptive learning support and changes in children’s mathematical competency. However, an indirect effect of teaching quality could not be detected, and the PD programs did not have a total effect on children’s mathematical competency. The study reinforces the importance of PD that specifically targets macro- and micro-adaptive learning support for kindergarten teachers. The mediation between PD and mathematical competency development requires further investigation.

Zusammenfassung Für die Gestaltung inklusiver Lernsettings stehen den Schulen Ressourcen, mehrheitlich in Form von Personal, zur Verfügung. Über deren Einsatz können die Schulen im Rahmen der gesetzlichen Vorgaben selbst entscheiden. Daher sind auch die sonderpädagogischen Angebote in den Schulen unterschiedlich organisiert. Doch auf Grund fehlender Daten gibt es für die Schulen keine evidenzbasierten Grundlagen, wie sie die Ressourcen effektiv und effizient einsetzen können. Im Rahmen eines Pilotprojektes wurden Daten in fünf Deutschschweizer Kantonen (Bern, Graubünden, St. Gallen, Schwyz und Zürich) zum Einsatz der Förderlehrpersonen in Volksschulen anhand eines Onlinefragebogens erhoben. Der Fragebogen wurde von N = 113 Lehrpersonen ausgefüllt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit sich anhand der Arbeitszeitverteilung der Förderlehrpersonen unterschiedliche Tätigkeitsprofile identifizieren lassen. Mit Hilfe einer Clusteranalyse konnten drei Typen von Tätigkeitsprofilen von Förderlehrpersonen identifiziert werden. Die Gruppen betätigen sich alle hauptsächlich im operativen Kern. Davon ist eine Gruppe eher in der Klasse tätig, eine andere in separativen Kleingruppen, und die dritte Gruppe ist, neben dem Unterricht, auch oft in Beratung und Diagnostik tätig. Die Ergebnisse der Studie geben Hinweise darauf, dass je nach Ressourcenverteilung der Schulen unterschiedliche Tätigkeitsprofile von Förderlehrpersonen resultieren. Darauf aufbauend sollte die Frage untersucht werden, inwiefern die unterschiedlichen Tätigkeitsprofile die Wahrnehmung der Schul- und Unterrichtsqualität beeinflussen.

Emotion-focused parenting interventions have only rarely been evaluated systematically in Europe. This study investigates the effectiveness of “Tuning in to Kids” (TIK) from Australia delivered online in a randomized controlled trial. TIK is a six-week emotion-focused group parenting program that has shown to improve many aspects of parent emotion socialization as well as child problem behavior in several different countries across cultures. Parents (N = 141) of children between 3 and 6 years of age were included in the study and randomly assigned to an intervention and wait-list control group. The intervention was delivered online due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2021 (intervention group) and one year later (control group) in Switzerland. Parents’ beliefs about emotions, their reported reactions to the child’s negative emotions, family emotional climate, and child behavior (internalizing and externalizing) improved after the intervention and stayed better until the 6 months follow-up in the intervention group, but not in the wait-list controls. Adherence to the program was very high. This study shows that parent emotion socialization practice is changeable with small effects even on child behavior and even after online delivery. This possibly makes Tuning in to Kids a promising emotion-focused parenting intervention when delivered online as an interactive group webinar.

Adolescent subcortical structural brain development might underlie psychopathological symptoms, which often emerge in adolescence. At the same time, sex differences exist in psychopathology, which might be mirrored in underlying sex differences in structural development. However, previous studies showed inconsistencies in subcortical trajectories and potential sex differences. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the subcortical structural trajectories and their sex differences across adolescence using for the first time a single cohort design, the same quality control procedure, software, and a general additive mixed modeling approach. We investigated two large European sites from ages 14 to 24 with 503 participants and 1408 total scans from France and Germany as part of the IMAGEN project including four waves of data acquisition. We found significantly larger volumes in males versus females in both sites and across all seven subcortical regions. Sex differences in age‐related trajectories were observed across all regions in both sites. Our findings provide further evidence of sex differences in longitudinal adolescent brain development of subcortical regions and thus might eventually support the relationship of underlying brain development and different adolescent psychopathology in boys and girls.

Fluent and automatized handwriting frees cognitive resources for more complex elements of writing (i.e., spelling or text generation) or even math tasks (i.e., operating) and is therefore a central objective in primary school years. Most previous research has focused on the development of handwriting automaticity across the school years and characteristics of handwriting difficulties in advanced writers. However, the relative and absolute predictive power of the different kinematic aspects for typically developing beginning handwriting remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether and to what extent different kinematic aspects contribute to handwriting proficiency in typically developing beginning handwriters. Further, we investigated whether gender, socioeconomic background, or interindividual differences in executive functions and visuomotor integration contribute to children’s acquisition of handwriting. Therefore, 853 first-grade children aged seven copied words on a digitized tablet and completed cognitive performance tasks. We used a confirmatory factor analysis to investigate how predefined kinematic aspects of handwriting, specifically the number of inversions in velocity (NIV), pen stops, pen lifts, and pressure on the paper, are linked to an underlying handwriting factor. NIV, pen stops, and pen lifts showed the highest factor loadings and therefore appear to best explain handwriting proficiency in beginning writers. Handwriting proficiency was superior in girls than boys but, surprisingly, did not differ between children from low versus high socioeconomic backgrounds. Handwriting proficiency was related to working memory but unrelated to inhibition, shifting, and visuomotor integration. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of considering different kinematic aspects in children who have not yet automatized pen movements. Results are also important from an applied perspective, as the early detection of handwriting difficulties has not yet received much research attention, although it is the base for tailoring early interventions for children at risk for handwriting difficulties.

This Roundtable discussion deals with the frequent academic contextualization of accessible gaming in the realm of serious gaming, meaning that video game research focused on accessibility is usually related to inclusion or therapeutic and educational contexts. Disabled gamers or gaming is thus dominated by an extraludic context which seems to transform games played by people with disabilities into serious games, that is, games that are not primarily intended for amusement. In addition, game devices such as the Microsoft Adaptive Controller are marketed and advertised as assistive technologies that have a function, relevance and impact on a sociopolitical level that goes beyond mere leisure activities. One of the leading questions of the roundtable then is why it is that gaming with disabilities seems to require a serious context or purpose—like ‘fixing’ the player—while gamers who do not identify as disabled normally consider video games as pleasure or entertainment. Another urgent question asked by the discussants is, whether it is possible to destabilize the border between dis/abilities in the context of serious and non-serious gaming or at least describe, discuss and discursify it in a way that renders it flexible, dynamic, and processual.

Background Early negative life events (NLE) have long‐lasting influences on neurodevelopment and psychopathology. Reduced orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) thickness was frequently associated with NLE and depressive symptoms. OFC thinning might mediate the effect of NLE on depressive symptoms, although few longitudinal studies exist. Using a complete longitudinal design with four time points, we examined whether NLE during childhood and early adolescence predict depressive symptoms in young adulthood through accelerated OFC thinning across adolescence. Methods We acquired structural MRI from 321 participants at two sites across four time points from ages 14 to 22. We measured NLE with the Life Events Questionnaire at the first time point and depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale at the fourth time point. Modeling latent growth curves, we tested whether OFC thinning mediates the effect of NLE on depressive symptoms. Results A higher burden of NLE, a thicker OFC at the age of 14, and an accelerated OFC thinning across adolescence predicted young adults' depressive symptoms. We did not identify an effect of NLE on OFC thickness nor OFC thickness mediating effects of NLE on depressive symptoms. Conclusions Using a complete longitudinal design with four waves, we show that NLE in childhood and early adolescence predict depressive symptoms in the long term. Results indicate that an accelerated OFC thinning may precede depressive symptoms. Assessment of early additionally to acute NLEs and neurodevelopment may be warranted in clinical settings to identify risk factors for depression.

The acquisition of handwriting skills is a crucial goal in early primary school. Yet our comprehension of handwriting development, encompassing graphomotor skills and spelling, remains fragmented. The identification of predictors for handwriting skills is essential for providing early support. This longitudinal study aimed to explore the predictive roles of gender, working memory, and motivation to handwrite for graphomotor skills six months later and spelling skills one year later. Paper-and-pencil tasks (graphomotor skills, spelling), a tablet task (working memory), and a questionnaire (teachers’ ratings of children’s handwriting motivation) were employed. This study included 363 first-grade children (49.8% girls) aged 6–9 years. Results from a structural equation model, controlling for age and socioeconomic background, revealed that girls exhibited superior performance in graphomotor skills, while boys tended to spell more accurately. Furthermore, working memory predicted graphomotor skills but not spelling. Additionally, motivation to handwrite predicted both first-grade graphomotor skills and second-grade spelling. This study extends contemporary evidence, demonstrating that graphomotor skills predict spelling while considering gender and motivation. The findings underscore the pivotal role of graphomotor skills in spelling acquisition and suggest their contribution to spelling difficulties.