Comparative Insights on School Inclusion: A Rapid Narrative Synthesis Methodology

Thursday, 10 July 2025: 16:15
Location: SJES003 (Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences (JES))
Oral Presentation
Donatella POLIANDRI, INVALSI (Italian National Institute for Educational Evaluation), Italy
Letizia GIAMPIETRO, INVALSI (Italian National Institute for Educational Evaluation), Italy
This paper proposes a systematic review methodology based on Rapid Narrative Synthesis (Amog et al., 2022) to analyze the processes of inclusion and exclusion within educational organizations. The analysis specifically focus on school contexts, encompassing primary and lower secondary education, and aims to investigate how educational practices influence the school inclusion.

A total of sixty-five articles were meticulously selected through a systematic search across the ERIC, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar databases, applying stringent inclusion criteria. These criteria includes peer-reviewed articles published between 2014 and 2024, exclusively in English, that address the theme of school inclusion at the micro (classroom and individual), meso (school and community), and macro (national and international educational policy) levels. The year 2014 was selected as a temporal boundary due to its significance as the publication date of the last comprehensive systematic review in the field of school inclusion (Loreman, 2014).

To facilitate the analysis, a comprehensive data collection grid was developed, emerging from an iterative process of continuous review and recursive refinement. The sixty-five articles were thoroughly read and assessed by four researchers, ensuring a robust and rigorous evaluation. The data collection grid encompasses various analytical dimensions, including: definitions of inclusion, models for assessing quality, indicators of inclusion, and educational processes.

The primary objective of this review is to elucidate the models and instruments utilized to evaluate the quality of school inclusion, highlighting the ways in which organizational practices and educational policies may either perpetuate or mitigate existing inequalities. The findings indicate that school inclusion is significantly influenced by the availability of resources, community support, and the effective implementation of inclusive policies. This methodology offers a valuable framework for comprehending how educational organizations can confront the structural and cultural barriers that impede inclusion, thereby presenting pathways toward enhanced social equity.