Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of ethnicity and diagnostic labels on teachers' ratings of children's behaviors in mainstream classrooms. Specifically, behavioral rating scores on the Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale (DESBRS) for handicapped and non-handicapped Anglo and Mexican American children were analyzed to explore: (a) the influence of ethnicity (Anglo vs. Mexican American) on the behavior ratings of children by Anglo teachers; (b) the influence of a diagnostic label (normal vs. LD) on behavior ratings by Anglo teachers; and (c) the relationship between the behavior ratings of a sample of Mexican American children and the normative sample of the DESBRS. Significant multivariate Fs were observed for the main effects of ethnicity and diagnostic label. Univariate analyses of ethnicity revealed that Mexican American and Anglo children were rated as being significantly different on three factors: comprehension, creative initiative, and closeness to the teacher. The LD and "normal" children were found to differ significantly on various DESBRS factors: classroom disturbance, inattentive-withdrawn, creative initiative, unable to change, quits, and slow work.
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