The social status of mildly learning handicapped high school students

Naturalistic observations of special education classrooms in a high school, together with teacher ratings of social acceptance, revealed four status positions within the learning handicapped population (130 learning disabled and mildly retarded students in resource and special day classrooms). Status was defined by reference to a group dominance hierarchy, and students within each status position displayed similar social patterns and educational attitudes. Conformity to school expectations was inversely related to social standing, while behavioral dominance was directly related. Individual and school factors were discussed that appear to contribute to the emergence and maintenance of the status groups.