Factors Influencing Regular Classroom Teachers' Referral Practices

Abstract
The majority of students who receive special education services are referred by their regular classroom teachers. Consequently, those teachers have a significant impact on the selection of the student population receiving special services, and the act of referral has significant impact on the referred student (Tymitz, 1984). For these reasons, special educators need to examine the referral process and the referring agent in order to understand factors that may influence teacher referral practices. This investigation examined the demographic characteristics of regular classroom elementary teachers who referred students for special education ser vices and the background factors associated with their classrooms. Teacher-reported referral data were gathered by a questionnaire designed for this study. Results show that three teacher demographic factors (attendance at inservice training covering special education topics, ethnic background, and age), in addition to two classroom background factors (number of mainstreamed students and student age), increased and contributed significantly to the variance of the dependent measure, number of referrals made. Implications for teacher training are discussed.

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