Differential Ratings of Specific Behaviors of African Americans Children in Special Education
- PDF / 182,185 Bytes
- 7 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 22 Downloads / 181 Views
Differential Ratings of Specific Behaviors of African Americans Children in Special Education Kristen Faye Linton
Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract African American children are disproportionality diagnosed with disabilities and receive special education services. A cultural mismatch hypothesis posits that white teachers may be more likely to refer African American children for disability assessments. This study assessed differences in ratings of African American children’s (N = 126) affective, anxiety, somatic, hyperactivity, oppositional, and conduct behaviors by themselves, their mothers, and teachers. The author hypothesized that teachers would have higher ratings of all externalizing behaviors than children and that children’s ratings of all internalizing behaviors would be higher than their mothers’ and teachers’ ratings. This study found that teachers rated childrens’ hyperactive behaviors statistically significantly higher than childrens’ and mother’s ratings. Children’s ratings of their own affective, anxiety, and somatic behaviors were statistically significantly higher than mothers’ and teachers’ ratings of children’s behaviors. Professionals who are involved in conducting assessments of diagnoses for children should receive training on the diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Prevention and interventions are needed to improve internalizing behaviors among African American children and children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Social workers are in positions in which they can get to know children on an individual basis in and outside the school, and provide individual counseling, family support, and resources to address internalizing behaviors.
K. F. Linton (&) School of Social Work, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Box 455032, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Keywords Disproportionality Special education African American Differential rating behavior
Introduction African American children are more likely to be diagnosed with disorders associated with their internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Skiba et al. 2006). As a result of these diagnoses, African American children disproportionately receive special education services (U.S. Department of Education 2008). It is unknown if disproportionality exists due to children’s needs or over-diagnosis. Teachers’ ratings of childrens’ behaviors have immense influence over children’s diagnosis and placement in special education (Skiba et al. 2006). Social workers’ training and professional positions in and out of schools places them in roles to positively impact disproportionality (Bean 2011). Previous research has found that children, mothers, and teachers rate childrens’ behaviors differently (Klaus et al. 2009; SalbachAndrae et al. 2009). Research has shown that teachers rated childrens’ overall internalizing scores higher than children rated themselves and no statistically significant differences in ratings of childrens’ externalizing behavior
Data Loading...
