Testing the generalized internal/external frame of reference model among students with and without special educational needs in regular and special education schools

This cross-sectional study with N = 21,216 fourth graders (M = 10.50, SD = 0.53) from a large-scale-assessment study in Germany aimed to examine the generalized internal/external frame of reference model (GI/E Model) for academic self-concepts and interests as outcomes of achievement in mathematics and verbal domains. The central objective of this study was to compare the achievement-self-concept/interest relations across three groups of students: n1 = 19,069 students without special educational needs (SEN) from regular schools, n2 = 933 students with SEN from regular schools, and n3 = 1214 students with SEN from special education schools. Results of multi-group structural equation modeling revealed positive within-domain achievement-self-concept/interest relations and negative cross-domain achievement-self-concept/interest relations in all three groups of students. The only non-significant relation was found between verbal achievement and verbal interest of students with SEN in regular and special education schools. Furthermore, there were higher within-domain achievement-self-concept relations in the mathematics domain for students without SEN than for students with SEN and a lower cross-domain relation between mathematics achievement and verbal self-concept for students without SEN than for students with SEN in special education schools. These results indicate that students with and without SEN use both social and dimensional comparisons when evaluating their abilities and interests in mathematics and verbal domains, except for the verbal interest of students with SEN.