The Impact of Relative Age on Special Education Referral and Eligibility from Kindergarten through Third Grade

The purpose of this archival quantitative research study was to investigate the effects of relative age and eligibility for special education through third grade. This study further examined relative age as it related to gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and multilingual learner status on eligibility for special education under the categories of Specific Learning Disabled (SLD) or Other Health Impaired (OHI). The study was conducted in a large kindergarten through 12th grade school district located in Northern New Jersey. The study used binomial logistic regression to analyze historical student data from three cohorts of students enrolled in third grade during the 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 school years to determine if students were eligible for school-age special education between grades kindergarten through third under the two potential eligibility categories that could be construed by relative age (SLD or OHI). This research study's major findings provided enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis that students who are older at the start of kindergarten will be more likely than their younger peers to be found eligible for special education under the categories of SLD and OHI. Additionally, the results did not provide enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis for gender, ethnicity, multilingual learner status, or socioeconomic status and their interaction with age. This study did find a significant relationship between special education eligibility under the categories of SLD or OHI and being male. Similarly, there was a strong relationship between being classified as a non-multilingual learner and the likelihood of being eligible for special education under the categories of SLD or OHI. This study concludes including relative age within the peer group as a factor for discussion when determining if a child should be referred to or evaluated for a suspected disability under the categories of SLD or OHI. This study also recommends that districts and schools begin including age as a factor when developing class cohorts of students in schools with multiple classes per grade level which will allow students to achieve their full potential. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]