For the last 40 years researchers have noted a disproportionately high number of minorities in special education programs. This dissertation attempts to address the perception of kindergarten through fifth grade general education teachers when making special education referrals for minority students. Educational researchers have recurrently strived to explain reasons for the disproportionate number of minority students in special education. The researcher argues the over population of minority students in special education programs is due to unfair testing procedures, lack of bilingual personnel, and language barriers. This dissertation expands to include a range of implications that may have been overlooked when attempting to find answers to the overrepresentation of minorities in special education programs. Therefore, building on historical events throughout the years, this dissertation attempts to show how these historical events construct a valid view from which to examine the continued development of the disproportionate representation of minorities in special education programs, as well as other implications associated with a larger cultural view of race, class, and language barriers.