Analysis of elementary teachers' self-reports of variables influencing teacher decisions during the special education referral process.

The purpose of this study was to analyze West Virginia teachers' decision making during the special education referral process.

Specifically, the study examined how academic achievement, behavior, socio-economic status, race/ethnicity, and gender impact the teacher's decision to refer students for special education services.

Elementary teachers completed a survey that consisted of questions that allowed them to report on the variables that most influenced their referral decisions.

For each survey question, the Spearmen Rho correlation coefficient was used to determine if a correlation existed between individual variables and the teacher's decision to refer a student for special education services.

The Mann-Whitney U test was used to further analyze referral decision between female and male teachers.

The results of this study indicate that teacher referral decisions are influenced by certain variables.

In particular, academic achievement, academic achievement concerns and behavior were most often cited by teachers as influential in their special education referral decisions.