Asian American students are underrepresented in special education, a state of affairs that threatens their access to academic resources. We propose that student race may influence educators’ likelihood of recommending them for special education services. In two studies, participants working in the field of education (total N = 1195) read a realistic, hypothetical observational behavioral report that described a struggling student. The student’s race (White or Asian) and area of difficulty (Reading or Math) were manipulated between subjects. Regardless of subject area, participants were less likely to recommend Asian American than White American students for learning disability evaluation. We speculate that the difference is based on stereotypes that Asian American students are too academically successful to struggle. Such lack of recommendation, if it occurs in the classroom, could potentially contribute to the underrepresentation of Asian American students in special education.

亚裔美国学生在特殊教育中的代表性不足，这种情况威胁到他们获得学术资源的机会。我们建议学生种族可能会影响教育工作者推荐他们接受特殊教育服务的可能性。在两项研究中，在教育领域工作的参与者（总共N = 1195）阅读描述一个挣扎学生的现实的、假设的观察行为报告。学生的种族（白人或亚洲人）和困难领域（阅读或数学）在科目之间被操纵。无论学科领域如何，与美国白人学生相比，参与者都不太可能推荐亚裔美国人进行学习障碍评估。我们推测，这种差异是基于亚裔美国学生在学业上过于成功而无法挣扎的刻板印象。这种缺乏推荐的情况，如果发生在课堂上，可能会导致亚裔美国学生在特殊教育中的代表性不足。