Operationalisation of quality of life for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to improve their inclusion.

A team ran a four-round Delphi survey with 14 teachers. The goal was to pick quality-of-life items that fit students with intellectual or developmental disabilities in regular classrooms.

Each round asked teachers to rate, re-word, or drop items until only the clearest, most useful ones remained.

The final pool of items passed a content-validity check. Teachers agreed the items capture what 'a good life at school' looks like for these students.

The tool is now ready for pilot testing with real students.

Torelli et al. (2026) extends this work. They showed that teaching daily-life skills in kindergarten boosts social behavior for kids with IDD. You can use the new QoL items to see if those skills truly lift classroom inclusion.

Bearss et al. (2022) also extends the idea. They reworked a parent program for teachers through stakeholder feedback, just like the Delphi used teacher feedback to shape the QoL tool. Both studies show that educator input makes interventions school-ready.

Vassos et al. (2023) looks at first like a clash. Parents of children with profound ID say only close family should judge quality of life, while Heras et al. (2021) puts teachers in the judge seat. The difference is severity: parents speak for children with the most complex needs, whereas teachers rate students who still attend mainstream classes. Use the new tool for the latter group and keep parent report for the former.

You now have a short, teacher-friendly item bank to track inclusion outcomes. Add it to your yearly IEP review or class-wide screening. A quick teacher rating can flag which students feel left out before problems turn into referral forms.