Two main questions form the basis for the study: How can differences in the classroom be dealt with? How can mainstream schools be equipped and organised to deal with pupils with special educational needs?

The study points to at least five groups of factors that seem to be effective for inclusive education:

Co-operative teaching:
Teachers need (practical) support from an extra teacher - a special education teacher or another colleague - or from his or her colleagues, head teacher and other professionals. Both for the development of academic and social skills of pupils with special educational needs, this appears to be an effective way of working. Clearly, additional help and support needs to be well co-ordinated and planned.

Co-operative learning:
Peer tutoring or co-operative learning is effective in both cognitive and affective social-emotional areas of pupils' learning and development. Pupils that help each other, especially when they have unequal levels of ability, profit from learning together. Moreover, there are no indications that the more able pupils suffer from this situation in terms of missing new challenges or opportunities. In addition, the findings point to progress within both the academic and social areas.

Individual planning:
Pupils with special educational needs improve academically from systematic monitoring, assessment, planning and evaluation of the work that has to be done during the school day. In this way instruction can be adapted and geared to the student's needs and additional support can be introduced adequately.

Collaborative problem solving:
Particularly for teachers that need help in including pupils with social/behavioural problems, findings in quite a few countries show that a systematic way of approaching undesired behaviour in the classroom is an effective tool for decreasing the amount and intensity of disturbances during lessons. Clear class rules and a set of boundaries, agreed with the pupils - alongside appropriate incentives and disincentives - have proven to be effective.

Heterogeneous grouping:
Finally findings show that a more differentiated approach in education is necessary and effective when dealing with a diversity of pupils in the classroom. Targeted goals, alternative routes for learning, flexible instruction and the abundance of homogenous ways of grouping enhance inclusive education. This finding is of great importance given the expressed needs of countries within the area of handling diversity within classrooms.

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