The influence of sociocultural factors (ethnicity, socioeconomic status, father absence, and family size) on special education eligibility was examined for three ethnic groups. A multiple regression procedure was used to analyze the data on 300 students referred for evaluation and found to be either not eligible for services or eligible for services as mentally retarded or learning disabled. Results indicated that only socioeconomic status and ethnicity made a significant contribution to the prediction of all three groups. Individually, father absence and family size did not contribute to the prediction of special education eligibility. Results of this study suggest that legislative mandates to control for sociocultural factors in the determination of special education eligibility have been only partially successful.In recent years, considerable attention has been directed to the disproportionate number of students from low socioeconomic status and ethnic minority backgrounds receiving special education services. Legislation regarding the overrepresentation of minorities in special education has resulted in controversies related to eligibility, identification, and placement of students from different sociocultural and socioeconomic environments (Dunn
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