Teachers as Mandated Reporters of Child Maltreatment: Comparison with Legal, Medical, and Social Services Reporters

All 50 states now have mandated reporting laws, which require certain professionals who work or come into contact with children to report suspected abuse or neglect. Many believe that teachers are in the best position to identify and report child abuse. However, research to date has not focused on characteristics of reports made by educators. This study compared reports of child maltreatment made by education personnel with the three other groups required to report. Results indicated that education personnel were responsible for 25 percent of the reports of abuse among the four mandated report sources, yet they had the lowest rate of substantiation. Significant differences were found in the age and race of the child involved in their maltreatment reports, whether the case was substantiated or not, and whether the child involved had a prior history of maltreatment. Some of the differences found may result from the manner in which teachers interact with children. Others differences may be associated with the poor training teachers receive about child maltreatment and their relatively low status among the mandated reporters.