Racial/ethnic bias in the prediction of students' educational potential was questioned in the Larry P. Vs. Riles case. The construct and predictive validity of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ IV; Schrank et al. 2014b) have not been examined for racial/ethnic bias. This study extended Keith's (1999) examination of bias…

As editors for this special journal, Graves and Woods have compiled a discussion of the accuracy of the labels for Black children. It is exciting that they have brought together a team of scholars to tackle the very specific question posed by Hilliard (1991) and Guthrie (1976/2002) about the validity of IQ testing in regards to accurately and…

Truth in testing, competency testing, and intelligence tests constitute the central topics of this newsletter. The authors review a report prepared by the Education Commission of the States on truth-in-testing legislation and litigation, covering recent efforts at the state and federal levels to open the testing process to public scrutiny. They…

Discusses two cases in which Black schoolchildren challenged the validity and cultural fairness of standardized, individually administered intelligence tests; Larry P. versus Riles and PASE versus Hannon. Describes the diametrically opposed outcomes of the decisions, highlights important similarities, and critically analyzes each court's reasoning…

Presents a history and analysis of the Larry P. v Wilson Riles litigation in California which prohibited the use of intelligence tests for determining eligibility of Black children for placement in educable mentally retarded programs. Argues against the court decision, and claims tests are not biased. (APM)

The analysis in this article is directed to the basic issues: Are IQ tests biased against Black children? And are IQ tests valid for the placement of Black children in special programs? The research evidence on these major issues is ambiguous and contradictory. (Author/CTM)

The Larry P. decision is criticized with reference to: (1) predictive tests and the standard curriculum; (2) the court's portrayal of special classes; (3) the effects of the 1972 decision on special class enrollment; (4) semantic confusion; and (5) the impact on Black children who experience academic difficulty. (Author/CTM)

This article addresses the question of why intelligence tests were put on trial. The courts had to weigh the validity of intelligence tests once California chose to rely upon intelligence tests to justify the large numbers of Black children in classes for the educable mentally retarded. (Author/CTM)