Does Teacher Bias Contribute to the Overidentification of Minority Students in Special Education?

Background: Previous research and data suggest that minority students have a disproportionate representation in special education programs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 indicated that disproportionate representation of minority students, specifically African American students identified with an intellectual disability, was a problem facing school districts in the country. According to recent data the problem of disproportionate representation in special education persists. Some of the potential causes of the disproportionate representation are implicit bias, socioeconomic status, and bias within the referral process. This study will look at the referral process and determine if there is bias within the referral process that leads to the overidentification of minority students in special education. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine potential teacher bias that might impact the overrepresentation of minority students in special education. More specifically, this research aimed to determine whether there was bias in the referral process. The following research questions were posed: (a) What student-level information do teachers report as most important for determining referral for special education, and does this differ based on teacher demographics? (b) Are there differences in referral information emphasized by teachers based on the race/ethnicity of the student in presented scenarios? (c) Are there differences in teacher ratings of recommendation for referral to special education based on student race/ethnicity ? (d) Are there differences in teacher ratings of the likelihood to refer students for a special education evaluation based on teacher race/ethnicity or experience? Methods: One hundred nine elementary teachers from an urban, Houston-area school participated in the study. Teachers provided demographic data about themselves, including race/ethnicity and years of experience. Each teacher read one of six randomly presented scenarios with accompanying data about a student and answered questions related to whether or not a referral to special education was warranted. Scenarios were vetted by a focus group, which all agreed on which student should and should not have been referred to special education. Frequency data were gathered and ANOVA was utilized to determine if there were significant differences in how the students in the scenarios were referred based on the race/ethnicity of the teachers, years of teaching experience, or race/ethnicity of the student in the scenario. Results: Overall, teachers reported utilizing overall student profiles for decision making rather than other specific data, though descriptively, less experienced teachers were more likely to utilize anecdotal data or standardized test scores. Frequency data did not show a difference in data used by teachers based on the race/ethnicity of the student in the scenario. There was no significant difference in the teacher ratings of referral for students based on student race/ethnicity. There were also no significant differences in the referral ratings when looking at the teacher demographics. One key finding was overall, teachers were more likely to be in agreement with the focus group decision on referral when they thought a referral was not necessary (86.5%) than they were when they thought a referral was necessary (43.9%). Conclusions: The results point to a need for teacher professional development regarding the referral process for special education, including data-based decision making and implicit bias training. Future research should focus on Response to Intervention and the referral process.