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Raising educational outcomes for students with special educational needs and disabilities: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Van Herwegen, J.; Masterman, T.; Dockrell, J.; Marshall, C.; Gordon, R.; Thomas, M. S. C. · Year: 2026 · Tier: meta · DOI/URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70127

Primary school (grades 1–6) Lower secondary (grades 7–9) Across ages Special education and inclusion

Links to claims

Limits (1)

Claim	Basis
C32	Full text: g = 0.44 overall; standardised reading 0.27, maths 0.40; maths in mainstream only. Also: only short-term outcomes analysed; 13.5% of studies had follow-up (pp. 6, 32). C32 weakened 2026-11-01 (size/settings) and 2026-11-07 (time bound).

Review state: first-pass draft, pending human review.

Source note

Syntes: Raising educational outcomes for students with special educational needs and dis

Källa: Van Herwegen, J.; Masterman, T.; Dockrell, J.; Marshall, C.; Gordon, R.; Thomas, M. S. C. (2026). Raising educational outcomes for students with special educational needs and disabilities: A systematic review and meta-analysis. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70127

Verified content

[abstract] Overall effect of targeted interventions across educational outcomes for students with any SEND: g = 0.44 (95% CI 0.38–0.50), about five months' additional progress (EEF conversion).
[abstract] Positive impacts on reading, maths and writing; substantial heterogeneity (I² ≈ 93%).
[abstract] Setting (mainstream vs special) did not affect reading/writing; maths gains larger in mainstream. Effects consistent across delivery method, implementor, control type.
[full text] 59% of studies RCTs, 41% quasi-experiments; 48% of control groups teaching as usual, about a quarter active controls; control type did not moderate effects.
[full text] By domain: reading g = 0.36 (CI 0.30–0.43), maths 0.51 (0.41–0.61), writing 0.43 (0.32–0.52), general attainment 0.34.
[full text] Type of outcome measure moderated reading (p < .001) and maths (p = .02): researcher-created ("experimental") measures largest (reading 0.54, maths 0.77); standardised measures smallest (reading 0.27, maths 0.40; the printed CI for standardised reading, 0.20 to 0.62, looks like a typo).
[full text] Study quality: reading high-quality g = 0.32, moderate 0.30, low 0.56 (p = .06).
[full text] Settings: reading no difference (p = .21); writing mainstream 0.46 vs special 0.51 (p = .71); maths mainstream 0.65 (CI 0.52–0.78) with no significant positive effect in special schools (n = 46 outcomes), mixed or clinical settings.
[full text] Publication bias: none overall; writing trim-and-fill 0.36 → 0.32.

Limits

[assessment] Full text read 2026-11-01. Heterogeneity very high (I² ≈ 93%); the headline 0.44 pools researcher-made and standardised tests.

Why it is in the library

Far-domain seed source for Phase D (K61).

Added 2026-10-28 by the project (Phase D expansional push). [abstract] = published abstract; [full text] = full text; [assessment] = judgement; [secondary] = secondary summary pending paper check.

Metadata as recorded

ID: SEND-003
Tier: meta
Titel: Raising educational outcomes for students with special educational needs and disabilities: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Författare: Van Herwegen, J.; Masterman, T.; Dockrell, J.; Marshall, C.; Gordon, R.; Thomas, M. S. C.
År: 2026 (Review of Education)
Källa/DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70127
Typ: systematic review/meta-analysis of RCTs and quasi-experiments on targeted interventions for students with SEND (349 studies / 1758 outcomes in meta)
Åldersgrupp: grundskola-lag;grundskola-hog;overgripande
Teman: specialpedagogik-och-inkludering
Hämtad: 2026-10-28
Paywall: open access (CC BY 4.0)
Verifierad: Crossref metadata + OA license checked 2026-10-28
Tillagd: Phase D Far-domain seed 2026-10-28; links pending human review
Uppdaterad: 2026-11-01 nightly attacks — full text read (UCL Discovery); numbers checked; C32 weakened.

The original files (PDF or abstract) are kept in the project archive and are not published here.