The Relationship Among Teacher and Student Gender and the Referral of Students to Intervention Processes that could Potentially Lead to Special Education Evaluation for Behavioral Characteristics of Emotional Disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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Date
2023-03-13
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Virginia Tech
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among teacher gender, student gender, and the referral of students to intervention processes that could potentially lead to special education evaluation for behavioral characteristics of emotional disability (ED) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Male students are disproportionally represented in special education (Bal et al., 2014). Disproportionality in special education is problematic (Chesmore et al., 2016). Research indicates that perceptions of student behavior differ by teacher gender and their years of teaching experience (Alter et al., 2013). Examining the relationship between teacher gender, student gender, and the referral of male students to special education evaluation may assist curriculum development for teacher preparation programs (Sciuchetti, 2017). This study included 31 survey responses from as many as 11 middle schools located centrally in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Data collected, included teacher gender, years of experience, perception of student behavior, and student gender. Relationships between teacher gender, student gender and referral of males to special education were identified using descriptive statistics. The study found that male students were more likely to be referred for intervention processes for behaviors that could lead to special education. The study found that teachers with 10 years of experience or more were more likely to refer students for behaviors to intervention processes that could potentially lead to special education evaluation. It also found that nearly all teachers considered behaviors when referring students to interventions that could potentially lead to special education evaluation. Additonally, more than half of survey participants identified specific ADHD and ED behaviors as problematic and the reason for the referral for interventions that could lead to special education. Finally, certain ADHD behaviors were only selected only by female teachers. Findings suggest a need for social emotional learning to be imbedded in core content instruction. School divisions should train teachers to account for gender differences when designing instruction. School divisions should emphasize training for teachers of the referrals process while making the process uniform. Finally, school divisions should train teachers in interventions for commonly occurring problem behaviors as well as instructional strategies designed to prevent misbehavior.

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Keywords
Teacher gender, student gender, disproportionality in special education
Citation