Abstract
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.
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Notes
Participants completed several exploratory measures that are not reported here. All exploratory measures were completed after the primary outcome variable. All study materials, as well as supplementary analyses and descriptive statistics for exploratory measures, are available on the project page on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/2vrnb/?view_only=6e8df0d501804c478c13499ca731c0dc).
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This research was supported by Project Implicit. LR is a consultant with Project Implicit, Inc., a non-profit organization that includes in its mission “to develop and deliver methods for investigating and applying phenomena of implicit social cognition, including especially phenomena of implicit bias based on age, race, gender or other factors.” KR is Executive Director of and a consultant with Project Implicit. Materials, data and syntax are available at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/2vrnb/?view_only=6e8df0d501804c478c13499ca731c0dc).
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Appendix A
Appendix A
Hypothetical observation behavioral report in the White-Reading condition. The report shows the race of the student, as indicated by his name, and the potential subject area of difficulty, as indicated by the observation.
Hypothetical observation behavioral report in the Asian-Math condition.
Hypothetical observation behavioral report in the Asian-Reading-Gifted condition.
Hypothetical observation behavioral report in the White-Math-Gifted condition.
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Wang, J.J., Redford, L. & Ratliff, K.A. Do special education recommendations differ for Asian American and White American students?. Soc Psychol Educ 24, 1065–1083 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-021-09645-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-021-09645-8