Primary school pupils from three ethnic groups ( Dutch, Surinam & Antillean and Turkish & Moroccan ) were compared with more or less matched pupils from special schools for children with learning problems in order to gain insight in the factors determining reference to these special schools. School career / medical problems / family situation / school progress / tests: CITO: begrippentoets, technisch lezen, begrijpend lezen, rekentoets/ Brus: een-minuut-test/ van Bon: taaltest voor kinderen / intelligence tests, learning potential tests: R-AKIT, Raven s progressive matrices, numerieke reeksen / personality tests: redzaamheids vragenlijst, Zaal: schoolgedrag beoordelingslijst, Nijmegen-California kinder-sorteertechniek, picture frustration study / sociometric questionnaire / teachers perception of problems regarding pupils / school characteristics / observation data. Background variables: basic characteristics/ characteristics of parental family/household