A Delphi Study on the Development of a Screening Tool for Multicultural Students Prior to Special Education Identification

Key Points

• The research aims to develop a screening tool to help teachers systematically interpret the performance characteristics of multicultural students before special education identification.
• Conducted a two-round Delphi survey with experienced teachers regarding multicultural student guidance and special education assessment.
• Evaluated the appropriateness and clarity of the initial questionnaire draft based on prior research and field needs in the first round.
• In the second round, verified the level of expert consensus on the revised questionnaire items.
• Applied criteria including content validity ratio (CVR), mean, standard deviation, agreement level, and convergence for item selection.
• The final screening tool consists of 35 items categorized into four areas: background information, academic performance, cognitive characteristics, and language/communication characteristics.
• The tool helps differentiate challenges faced by multicultural students based on cultural/language factors and developmental factors.
• Promotes proper educational support and prevents over-identification as special education candidates.