Poster 9:

Socio-Emotional Differences among Israeli Students as Revealed in Distance Learning

Ihab Zubeidat and Waleed Dallasheh (Sakhnin College of Teacher Education, Israel)

Over the past twenty years, the research literature dealing with students with specific learning disorders indicates considerable social and behavioral deficits in these students compared to ordinary students (Charles & Carstensen, 2007). Our study compared students from regular education, special education, and those mainstreamed with significant extra support. We examined differences in emotional wellbeing (sense of coherence, emotional stability, and exam anxiety) and social wellbeing (sense of social loneliness, social competence, and friendship). Participants were approximately 229 students, most with a specific learning disorder, randomly selected from elementary and middle schools from the Arab areas in the north of Israel. The study was conducted in the current school year when students were studying remotely. Our findings indicate significant differences between the three groups of students in their sense of coherence, social loneliness, emotional stability, social competence, and capacity for friendship. We conclude that special education students tend to be more socially isolated than ordinary students and mainstreamed students.