Tuettu-study

Tuettu study is a research project conducted by a consortium of the University of Helsinki and Tampere University. It investigates inclusion, focusing on the placement of students with special educational needs.

OBJECTIVES

The aim is to study:

How the teaching group of students receiving special support – general education class or special class – affects their performance in cognitive tasks and attitudes towards learning.
How the placement of students receiving special support in general education classes affects the performance of other students in cognitive tasks and attitudes towards learning.
How the composition of the class affects students' cognitive performance and attitudes and beliefs related to learning and schooling.

The aim is to provide information on the effectiveness of inclusion from the perspective of all students and the implementation of support in general education classes or special classes. This information is important for both education providers and for assessing the need for changes in laws and curricula.

For the longitudinal study, a nationally representative sample was taken (approximately 8,000 students from 139 schools and 70 education providers), and all classes from the selected schools were asked to participate in the study. The same students were followed yearly from the 4th grade to the 6th grade in the spring semesters of 2022–2024.

Questionnaire data was also collected from the principals and teachers on topics such as class formation, resources, and support for learning and schooling, to examine the municipal, school, and class-level factors associated with placement decisions.

Publications from the Research

Several publications will be made from the data of the Tuettu-study in the future. So far, an article concerning the first data collection has already been published:

Lintuvuori, M., Hienonen, N., Kilpi, N., Oinas, S., Asikainen, M., & Jahnukainen, M. (2024). Erityistä tukea saavien oppilaiden osaaminen tuen eri toteutuspaikoissa yleisopetuksesta erityisluokkaan. Kasvatus, 55(5), 473–490. https://doi.org/10.33348/kvt.154618

Privacy policy for research

The research has received a statement from the University of Helsinki's Ethics Committee for the Human Sciences (17.5.2021) as a demonstration of commitment to research ethics.

The Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) of the study has been approved by the University of Tampere on 27 August 2021.

Please see below for more information on research data protection:

Student data privacy notice

Rehtori- ja opettaja-aineistoja koskeva tietosuojailmoitus (FIN)

A short video on privacy notice was made for the pupils participating in the survey:

Tietosuojavideo (FIN)