Abstract
Educators and psychologists who had previously participated in at least two placement team meetings individually completed a computer-simulated decisionmaking program on a referred child. The 224 participants were randomly assigned to sixteen different referral conditions varying on the basis of the sex, socioeconomic status, physical attractiveness, and nature of the referral difficulty demonstrated by the referred child. Participants assessed test scores and qualitative information; all scores and information indicated performance within the average range for the referred student’s age and grade. A multivariate analysis of variance and follow-up univariate tests revealed that the nature of referral information significantly affected decision makers’ prognoses for academic success. When decision makers were told the student was referred for academic problems, they predicted difficulties in math, but not in reading or speech. Decision makers predicted that girls referred because of academic problems would have significantly more difficulty acquiring reading skills than would girls with behavior problems.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 145-150 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Educational Research |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1980 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The research reported herein was supported by Contract #300-77 '{)491 between the Bureau for Ed ucation of the Handicapped and the University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities. Special appreciation is extended to Ed Arndt, Martha Bordwell, Patricia Chase, Jean Greener, Joyce Halverson, Richard Regan, and Mary Turnblom for assistance in data collection; and to Deborah Anderson for assistance in data analysis.
