Can schools overcome structural challenges to integrate students with immigrant background? Evidence from a whole-school improvement programme

With recent large-scale migration making societies increasingly diverse, there is a need for education systems and schools to integrate students from all backgrounds within their local contexts. However, educational research and practice fall behind, as gaps in learning outcomes associated with students’ immigrant background remain evident. To this end, an intervention was proposed to support local schools in promoting diversity and inclusion. Lower secondary schools with a relatively high proportion of students with immigrant background were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The intervention was implemented as a whole-school improvement programme using the Dynamic Approach to School Improvement. Its effectiveness was evaluated in relation to two student learning outcomes relevant to key barriers faced by students with immigrant background: language achievement and multicultural attitudes. Data were collected from 1507 students across 70 classrooms in 15 schools. Analyses of student gains showed relatively low progress in student outcomes across participating schools, which highlights the structural challenges schools face in their efforts to integrate students from all backgrounds. Multilevel regression analyses indicated no overall effect of the improvement programme on either student outcome. Nevertheless, subgroup analyses showed a positive intervention effect on reading achievement for students with immigrant background, whereas the corresponding effect was not statistically significant for students without immigrant background. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed in light of two important questions in school improvement research: under which conditions and for whom can schools effectively promote student learning outcomes?