Research shows that Black students are over-represented in special education for a reading disability based on the inaccuracy of teacher referrals. Teachers' accuracy in referring Black students to special education for a reading disability is not an extensively researched area. This study aims to determine if teachers' biases and attitudes toward Black students impacted their ability to accurately make a special education referral for a reading disability for this population of students. For this study, teachers completed a questionnaire, cultural competence self-assessment checklist, four vignettes, and a post-vignette question to determine if their personal biases and attitudes impacted their willingness to refer Black students to special education for a reading disability. A cross-tab, chi-squared test, and binary logistic regression were the methods used to examine the data. All data collected in the study were from school districts across the country and teacher pages via social media groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. The researcher hypothesized that whether Black students were struggling or not within the vignettes, teachers would refer them for special education services at a higher rate.
","abstract_html":"<p>Research shows that Black students are over-represented in special education for a reading disability based on the inaccuracy of teacher referrals. Teachers' accuracy in referring Black students to special education for a reading disability is not an extensively researched area. This study aims to determine if teachers' biases and attitudes toward Black students impacted their ability to accurately make a special education referral for a reading disability for this population of students. For this study, teachers completed a questionnaire, cultural competence self-assessment checklist, four vignettes, and a post-vignette question to determine if their personal biases and attitudes impacted their willingness to refer Black students to special education for a reading disability. A cross-tab, chi-squared test, and binary logistic regression were the methods used to examine the data. All data collected in the study were from school districts across the country and teacher pages via social media groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. The researcher hypothesized that whether Black students were struggling or not within the vignettes, teachers would refer them for special education services at a higher rate.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wise Perry, Blade"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy - School Psychology","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Human Services","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey","Dr. Elaine Turne","Dr. Luis Aguerrevere"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:45Z","subjects":["Black","White","Overrepresentation","Over referral","Teacher Bias","Reading Disability","Special Education","Accessibility","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/519","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey","Dr. Elaine Turne","Dr. Luis Aguerrevere"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wise Perry, Blade"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-01-19T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Human Services"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy - School Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Black","White","Overrepresentation","Over referral","Teacher Bias","Reading Disability","Special Education","Accessibility","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Elementary Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/519"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Research shows that Black students are over-represented in special education for a reading disability based on the inaccuracy of teacher referrals. Teachers' accuracy in referring Black students to special education for a reading disability is not an extensively researched area. This study aims to determine if teachers' biases and attitudes toward Black students impacted their ability to accurately make a special education referral for a reading disability for this population of students. For this study, teachers completed a questionnaire, cultural competence self-assessment checklist, four vignettes, and a post-vignette question to determine if their personal biases and attitudes impacted their willingness to refer Black students to special education for a reading disability. A cross-tab, chi-squared test, and binary logistic regression were the methods used to examine the data. All data collected in the study were from school districts across the country and teacher pages via social media groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. The researcher hypothesized that whether Black students were struggling or not within the vignettes, teachers would refer them for special education services at a higher rate.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Does Teacher Bias Increase Referral of Blacks to Special Education for a Reading Disability?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey","Dr. Elaine Turne","Dr. Luis Aguerrevere"],"dc:creator":["Wise Perry, Blade"],"dc:date.available":["2023-01-19T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Research shows that Black students are over-represented in special education for a reading disability based on the inaccuracy of teacher referrals. Teachers' accuracy in referring Black students to special education for a reading disability is not an extensively researched area. This study aims to determine if teachers' biases and attitudes toward Black students impacted their ability to accurately make a special education referral for a reading disability for this population of students. For this study, teachers completed a questionnaire, cultural competence self-assessment checklist, four vignettes, and a post-vignette question to determine if their personal biases and attitudes impacted their willingness to refer Black students to special education for a reading disability. A cross-tab, chi-squared test, and binary logistic regression were the methods used to examine the data. All data collected in the study were from school districts across the country and teacher pages via social media groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. The researcher hypothesized that whether Black students were struggling or not within the vignettes, teachers would refer them for special education services at a higher rate.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/519"],"dc:subject":["Black","White","Overrepresentation","Over referral","Teacher Bias","Reading Disability","Special Education","Accessibility","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["Does Teacher Bias Increase Referral of Blacks to Special Education for a Reading Disability?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Human Services"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy - School Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:45Z"}