Portraits of mentally retarded children - A content analysis of expert opinions

Reports concerning children's behavior written by teachers contain the char acteristics of the children as well as the implicit theories of the writers . Therefore the reports may be marked as "portraits" with unclear validity. In this study a content analysis of 66 reports describing mentally retarde d children is carried out. These reports were written by expert teachers in special education. A cluster analysis of the most frequent statements yiel ded three different clusters, describing three levels of mental retardation : mild, moderate, and severe or profound. Checkable data like age, school c areer, medical diagnosis, and (in some respect) IQ confirm this conclusion. The mildly retarded children are portrayed as relatively well adapted. The reports of the moderately retarded children contain some specific restrict ions. The portraits of the severely and profoundly retarded children emphas ize the lack of self care. Conclusions concerning the procedures of educati onal assessment are discussed.