Differentiating Children Who Are At Risk for Referral from Others on Critical Classroom Factors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: to differentiate children at risk for special education referral from other low achievers, and to differentiate all low achievers from mainstreamed special education students and from average achievers on several classroom factors. These factors included attentiveness, the child's level of involvement in instructional activities, and the type of feedback the child received from the teacher. Results indicated that children in urban classrooms who were at risk for referral were not called on as frequently and did not receive as much corrective feedback from teachers as did other low achievers. In a suburban setting, low achievers were called on more often than average achievers. Implications for classroom practice are discussed.