There is growing evidence that school starting age impacts children's likelihood of receiving special education services, but less is known about variations in this effect. Using a regression discontinuity design, I found that the youngest students in a kindergarten cohort are 40% more likely (p < 0.001) to be placed in special education than…

We examined the risk of disability identification associated with individual and school variables. The sample included 18,000 students in 39 schools of an urban K-12 school system. Descriptive analysis showed racial minority risk varied across 7 disability categories, with males and students from low-income backgrounds at highest risk in most…

Demographic and perception data were collected from 63 teachers (grades 1-5) to determine the effect of sociocultural variables on teachers' perceptions of classroom behavior, management, and referral tendencies. Teachers' perceptions of a learning disability, educational level, grade level, instructional practices, and prereferral intervention…