Does in-service training in special education increase the effectiveness of general classroom teachers? Evidence from the large-scale “Special Education Pedagogy for Learning” program in Sweden

May 2026

This study evaluates the impact of a large-scale professional development program for general classroom teachers in Sweden, the “Special Education Pedagogy for Learning” (SFL) program. Linking program administrative data to national full population register data, we apply a dynamic difference-in-differences estimation of school-level program participation on grade 6 and grade 9 student mathematics and Swedish grades and national test scores. The findings indicate that the program did not lead to improved achievement in national test scores when effects were averaged across all students. However, heterogeneity analyses suggest moderate effect sizes (0.077 standard deviations) in Swedish national test scores for newly arrived childhood immigrants. Conversely, we do not find any effect of the program for students with individualized education programs across any outcome of interest.

Keywords

large-scale teacher professional development, special and inclusive education, special educational needs, childhood immigrants, event study, difference-in-differences

Education level

K-12 Education

Topics

Teacher and Leader Development