AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PEER PERFORMANCE DISCREPANCY DECISION RULES ON THE PROPORTION OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS DETERMINED ELIGIBLE FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION ASSESSMENT IN READING OR MATH (CURRICULUM-BASED MEASUREMENT

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of implementing two different criteria on the proportion of elementary students by grade, sex, and ethnic group identified as eligible for special education assessment in reading or math.;The peer performance discrepancy decision rules used as criteria in the study were: (1) the 2x discrepant from peers decision rule using school and district peer comparison group norms, and (2) the 3x discrepant from peers decision rule using school and district peer comparison group norms.;Subjects in the study were 455 Minneapolis Public Schools regular education students in Grades 3-6 referred to special education teachers for assessment.;Curriculum-Based Measures for data-based special education program decisions (Deno & Mirkin, 1977; Mirkin et al., 1981) were implemented to establish peer comparison group norms, and screen referred students.;Implementation of the Curriculum-Based screening procedures, and the two decision rules reduced the number of evaluations for special education services by 60-90%, depending on decision rule and academic area.;Irrespective of the decision rule implemented, twice as many students were identified for assessment in reading compared to math. For both academic subjects, the 3x peer discrepancy decision rule resulted in 50% fewer students identified for assessment.;In general, regardless of decision rule or academic area, 60% of the males, compared to 40% of the females were determined eligible for assessment in reading. Nearly three times as many males were identified for assessment in math using the 3x peer discrepancy decision rule. The proportion of students identified by ethnic category varied, depending upon decision rule and subject area.;For both peer discrepancy decision rules, Chi-Square and Phi-coefficient analyses demonstrated strong agreement between school and district peer comparison group norms to identify the same students for special education assessment in reading and math. Results of these analyses for sex and ethnic category were similar.