Providing education that meets the needs and capabilities of youth at risk, is very challenging and demanding for urban mainstream schools. Various efforts at several levels are required. These levels include the regional level, the school level, and the teacher level. At the regional level, mainstream primary schools and special schools for primary education in the Netherlands cooperate in regional consortia of schools. One of the tasks of these consortia is to provide a cohesive range of special needs facilities, including support of mainstream schools' staff, and maintaining networks of special educational needs co-ordinators in order to foster the exchange of expertise. In addition, the cooperation between schools and youth care institutions is stimulated. As a result of this, a grower number of schools is being supported by youth care advisory teams. At the school level, the role of the school principal is crucial (Doyle, 2002; Fullan, 2002; Guzmán, 1995). Other important factors are the schools' resources tailored to the needs of children at risk, the opportunity to develop teachers' professional skills, and the available support, which is primarily provided by the special educational needs co-ordinator (Evans, Lunt, Wedell, & Dyson, 1999; Meijer, 2003). At the teacher level, the teachers' attitudes towards providing education to pupils with special educational needs are an essential factor (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002). The same goes for the teachers' knowledge and skills with respect to providing this tailored education (Evans et al., 1999). The efforts and support at the various levels are expected to be reflected in adaptive instruction in the classroom, a pupil care system in schools and less pupils being transferred to special education. Research questions In the present study, the following research questions were addressed: o How do mainstream urban schools respond to the special educational needs of pupils at risk? o In what ways are mainstream urban schools supported by regional clusters and institutions in providing education to the youth at risk? o What factors at the regional level, the school level, the teacher level and the pupil level influence the transfer of pupils from mainstream schools to special schools? o What factors at the regional level, the school level, the teacher level and the pupil level influence the well- being of pupils in mainstream primary schools? Method Data from two studies were used: o A large-scale survey, providing data from a representative sample of 500 mainstream primary schools. These data consist of questionnaires processed by school principals, teachers, as well as pupils. The questionnaires addressed the regional support, the school care system, the education provided, and the pupils' well-being. o A survey processed by 155 co-ordinators from regional school networks. The survey addressed the activities in the networks, the support provided to schools, and the regional cooperation with other institutions. In addition, data from the Ministry of Education with regard to school characteristics, pupil characteristics and the transfer of pupils to special education were linked to the survey data and analysed. Results Results show that schools with a school population that consists of many pupils from low ses groups or non-native groups tend to have a higher transfer rate of pupils to special schools. This transfer rate, however, proved to a part dependant upon the transfer rate from other schools participating in the same cluster. The influence of the school at the well-being of pupils proved to be very limited. However, the pupil group has a considerable influence on the pupils' well-being. More detailed results will be presented at the conference. References Avramidis, E., & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers' attitudes towards integration/inclusion: a review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17 (2), 129- 147. Doyle, L.H. (2002). Leadership and Inclusion: Reculturing for Reform. International Journal of Educational Reform, 11 (1), 38-62. Evans, J., Lunt, I., Wedell, K., & Dyson, A. (1999). Collaborating for Effectiveness. Empowering schools to be inclusive. Buckingham / Philadelphia: Open University Press. Fullan, M. (2002). The Role of Leadership in the Promotion of Knowledge Management in Schools. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice,8 (3/4), 409-419). Guzmán, N. (1995). Leadership for succesful inclusive schools. A study of principal behaviours. Journal of Educational Administration, 35 (5), 439-450. Meijer, C.J.W. (Ed.) (2003). Inclusive Education and Effective Classroom Practices. Middelfart, Denmark: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education.