The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among teacher gender, student gender, and the referral of students to intervention processes that could potentially lead to special education evaluation for behavioral characteristics of emotional disability (ED) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Male students are disproportionally represented in special education (Bal et al., 2014). Disproportionality in special education is problematic (Chesmore et al., 2016). Research indicates that perceptions of student behavior differ by teacher gender and their years of teaching experience (Alter et al., 2013). Examining the relationship between teacher gender, student gender, and the referral of male students to special education evaluation may assist curriculum development for teacher preparation programs (Sciuchetti, 2017).
This study included 31 survey responses from as many as 11 middle schools located centrally in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Data collected, included teacher gender, years of experience, perception of student behavior, and student gender. Relationships between teacher gender, student gender and referral of males to special education were identified using descriptive statistics.
The study found that male students were more likely to be referred for intervention processes for behaviors that could lead to special education. The study found that teachers with 10 years of experience or more were more likely to refer students for behaviors to intervention processes that could potentially lead to special education evaluation. It also found that nearly all teachers considered behaviors when referring students to interventions that could potentially lead to special education evaluation. Additonally, more than half of survey participants identified specific ADHD and ED behaviors as problematic and the reason for the referral for interventions that could lead to special education. Finally, certain ADHD behaviors were only selected only by female teachers.
Findings suggest a need for social emotional learning to be imbedded in core content instruction. School divisions should train teachers to account for gender differences when designing instruction. School divisions should emphasize training for teachers of the referrals process while making the process uniform. Finally, school divisions should train teachers in interventions for commonly occurring problem behaviors as well as instructional strategies designed to prevent misbehavior. / Doctor of Education / Male Students are almost twice as likely to be identified for special education services than female students (Bal et al., 2014). This is problematic as students with disabilities were often less likely to have high expectations in the educational setting (Hibel et al. 2010). Students with disabilities were also less likely to graduate high school, attend college, and were more likely to be incarcerated (Chesmore et al., 2016). Current research indicated that teacher perceptions of student behavior differ by teacher and student gender (Alter et al., 2013). Teacher perceptions of behavior played a central role in the referral of students to be evaluated for special education services related to behavioral needs (Raines et al., 2012).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among teacher gender, student gender, and the referral of students to intervention processes that could potentially lead to special education evaluation for behavioral characteristics of emotional disability (ED) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Relationships between variables were examined using an ex post facto survey sent out to 460 middle school teachers across 11 schools. Survey items captured data from teachers who have referred students to interventions for ED and ADHD behavioral characteristics, potentially leading to special education evaluation. Data included teacher gender, years of experience, perception of the severity of student behavior, and the gender of the student referred. Relationships between variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Findings suggest male students were more likely to be referred for intervention processes for behaviors which could lead to special education evaluation for ED and ADHD behaviors. Also, that male and female teachers with10 years of experience or more were more likely to refer students to intervention processes that could lead to special education evaluation behaviors. Nearly all teachers considered behaviors when referring students to interventions that could potentially lead to special education evaluation. More than half of survey participants identified specific ADHD and ED behaviors as problematic and the reason for the referral for interventions that could potentially lead to special education. Finally, certain behaviors were selected only by females when it pertained to ADHD behaviors.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/114094 |
| Date | 13 March 2023 |
| Creators | Jarman, David Richard |
| Contributors | Counselor Education, Brinkmann, Jodie Lynn, Cash, Carol S., Price, Ted S., Grounard, Jr., Daniel Joseph |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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