Structural Equation Modelling of Factors Predicting Educational Inclusion Quality Across Nigerian States

This doctoral study employs structural equation modelling to develop and test a comprehensive predictive model of educational inclusion quality across Nigerian states. Educational inclusion quality, as distinct from mere physical co-placement, encompasses meaningful academic participation, social belonging, individualised support, and positive educational outcomes for students with disabilities within mainstream schools. Existing research in Nigeria has examined individual predictors of inclusion in isolated studies, but no study has simultaneously modelled the complex interrelationships among teacher attitudes, leadership effectiveness, resource availability, policy implementation, family engagement, and student outcomes within a unified theoretical model. The study adopts a large-scale cross-sectional design, surveying three thousand five hundred participants including teachers, administrators, parents, and students with disabilities from two hundred schools across all six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Structural equation modelling with latent variable specification is applied to test a theoretically derived model encompassing direct, indirect, and moderated pathways. Measurement invariance testing ensures comparability of model parameters across regional and school-type subgroups. The study generates a validated national model of inclusion quality with strong explanatory power, providing a theoretically rigorous and empirically robust basis for identifying the highest-leverage intervention points in the Nigerian inclusion system. The original theoretical model itself constitutes a significant contribution to the global measurement and conceptualisation of inclusion quality. Recommendations prioritise the most powerful modifiable predictors identified by the model. Keywords: structural equation modelling, inclusion quality, Nigerian schools, predictive model, special education.