Standardized tests have been selected as a key assessment factor in expanding the academic achievement of the national student population. However, these tests position immigrant students at the risk of academic failure, leading education experts to search for new strategies and teaching models. The "Handbook of Research on Assessment…

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are experiencing the exciting challenge of serving increasing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools. When ELLs struggle in school, they may be overreferred for speech-language services. SLPs are routinely expected to differentiate a language difference based on cultural, linguistic, and…

Purpose: Children with specific language impairment (SLI) demonstrate significant language impairments despite normal-range hearing and nonverbal IQ. Many of these children also show marked deficits in working memory (WM) abilities. However, the theoretical and clinical characterization of the association between WM and language limitations in SLI…

This article identifies sources of information about syntactic ability of school-age children and adolescents from language samples (spoken and written) and standardized language tests. Language samples yield information on sentence length, clause density, and use of higher level discourse-motivated structures. Syntactic subtests from three…

Oral language abilities in 20 boys (ages 9-13) with chronic behavior disorder were investigated, using 20 standardized language measures. Findings indicated generally poor or inconsistent language skills, with abstract concepts and linguistically complex structures particularly difficult. (Author/DB)

This article describes errors resulting from use of standardized language tests using a "normal" sample as the normative comparison group. Resulting errors include, among others, identifying normal children as language impaired, providing misleading profiles of verbal and nonverbal performance, and inability to determine impairment severity.…

This study demonstrated the application of mediated learning experience to language assessment of primarily Puerto Rican and African-American children (n=50) in three Head Start classes. Results support the hypothesis that a task matching young children's socialization better differentiates between nondisabled and language-disordered children than…

Reviews research literature on the effectiveness of bilingual education programs. Argues that scientifically valid evaluation studies offer no consistent support for transitional bilingual education as a superior practice for improving the English-language achievement of limited English proficient (LEP) children and, in fact, suggest evidence of…

This study compared 4 methods (2 case history and 2 performance-based) used to classify the status of adult subjects in familial studies of developmental language disorders, involving 24 parents of children with developmental language disorders and 24 unrelated adult controls. Classification by case history found fewer affected adults than…

Examines the current rift in perspective between whole language arts and traditional language arts instruction by analyzing the basis of each view in research and theory. Suggests research developments that might alleviate the present impasse. Describes the need for new hypotheses, a variety of designs, improved instrumentation, and collaborative…

Evaluation of 252 children with specific language impairments found varying degrees of congruence between clinically identified children and those identified using discrepancy, deficit, and standardized operational criteria. Results suggest that the global concept of a "specific language impairment" may not be a useful concept for either…

The main purpose of this 8-month study was to determine whether significant differences in student learning and attitudes occur as a result of the use of word processors, but curriculum changes, inservice teacher requirements, obstacles to incorporating word processing into language arts programs, effective teaching strategies, and effective…

Based on ecological theory, this study examined how four components of children's home and child-care literacy environments, and the connections between these environments, were associated with preschool-age children's literacy and language development. Interview and standardized assessment data were collected from 85 preschool-age children, their…

Commercially available tests and measurement instruments for use with English-speaking subjects are described and reviewed. Only tests that are new, have been revised since last reviewed in the Mental Measurements Yearbook series, or are considered established and highly used are included. The contents are as follows: (1) a bibliography of…

The effectiveness of direct measurement techniques and standardized achievement tests for assessing within-individual change over a 10-week period was examined. The Reading Comprehension and Language subtests from the Stanford Achievement Tests and direct measures of reading and written language were administered twice to 83 low-achieving students…