Social Status: A Comparison of Mainstreamed Students with Peers of Different Ability Levels

Abstract

This study compared the peer acceptance of main-streamed elementary school students with that of their class peers of differing ability levels. In each classroom, a mainstreamed student and a student of low, average, and high ability, defined in terms of reading-group placement, were selected randomly. To assess peer acceptance, a sociometric scale was group-administered to each of the participating 100 classes while the mainstreamed student was present. ANOVA indicated that the main effect due to ability level was significant. The Scheffe test revealed that peer acceptance was significantly lower for the mainstreamed student as compared with both the average- and the high-ability student. However, the mainstreamed and low-ability students were not significantly different from each other, nor were the average- and high-ability students.