Four groups of educational decision makers rated the influence of nine pieces of information on the decisions they made about the educational placement of a child. Information regarding the sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and physical attractiveness of the student was seen as having an insignificant effect on decisions. Assessment data were believed to have a greater influence, with achievement and intelligence scores seen as having a significant effect. These results are reviewed in light of the finding that child characteristics such as sex, SES, and attractiveness did influence actual decisions made by one of the groups included in this study.
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