Expectations of teachers for physically handicapped and normal first grade students.

A descriptive study was conducted to determine whether teachers held different student role expectations for physically handicapped first grade students than they did for physically normal students. Contrary to predictions, results demonstrated that the teachers held statistically significantly higher expectations for the physically handicapped students. Such differences might be due to social desirability (responding in what appears to be a socially acceptable manner), or to a "haloing" of expectations for physically handicapped students. The teachers' inflated expectations could result in negative reactions toward handicapped students who do not demonstrate anticipated behaviors or live up to inflated expectations.