Sense of Belonging at School as a quality measure of inclusion – Comparing the inclusive experimental school Laborschule Bielefeld with regular inclusive comprehensive schools and investigating the determining factors

Sense of belonging at school (SoBaS) is a basic requirement for every student and a major inclusivity goal for educational institutions. In the present study, we re- port on a self-evaluation of the Laborschule Bielefeld (LS; Germany) covering ­ SoBaS. LS is an inclusive experimental comprehensive school with more than for- ty years of experience concerning a non-segregative and diversity-friendly school culture. Based on propensity score matching, the study investigated whether the SoBaS scores of the students at this inclusive experimental school (N= 115) differ from the students visiting inclusive classes in regular state-run comprehensive schools (N= 2376). Furthermore, we examined the factors in the students’ educa- tional environment at LS that may potentially influence their SoBaS. The results indicate that the students attending the LS experienced a higher SoBaS. In additi- on, certain aspects of LS's teaching and interaction culture were identified as aus- picious factors for accomplishing high levels of students’ SoBaS.