Referral rates for intervention or assessment: A meta-analysis of racial differences

This study synthesized the literature on the rates of referral for intervention or assessment of students from three racial groups: Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic. Ten studies, published or unpublished, that presented frequency counts for the population and the referred sample for at least one school district yielded 44 comparisons. For comparisons between African American and Caucasian students, the mean risk ratios comparing the referral rates were significantly different from zero. No significant differences were found between the referral rates of Hispanic students and Caucasian students. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are presented.