The classification of test-takers into ethnic and racial groups ensures individuals and groups, identified in Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, are protected from adverse treatment (Camilli, 2006). The United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) suggests that…

South African higher education institutions are experiencing challenges regarding access, redress and the successful completion of programmes in an environment where there are still imbalances in the schooling system. Tools are needed that will assist with the process of selecting students. The aim of this study is to determine whether a test…

The purpose of this article is to describe and demonstrate a three-step process of using differential distractor functioning (DDF) in a post hoc analysis to understand sources of differential item functioning (DIF) in multiple-choice testing. The process is demonstrated on two multiple-choice tests that used complex alternatives (e.g., "No…

This article presents a study of ethnic Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for 4th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade reading items on a state criterion-referenced achievement test. The tests, administered 1997 to 2001, were composed of multiple-choice and constructed-response items. Item performance by focal groups (i.e., students from Asian/Pacific Island,…

Administered the WISC and WISC-R to 20 White children and compared their differences in a counterbalanced design to equivalent data obtained from Black children. For the White subjects, no differences were found between WISC and WISC-R measures. Black children scored significantly lower on the WISC-R on all three IQ measures. (Author)

Scores of Black and White alcoholics were compared using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Profile differences were not clinically meaningful. However, comparative scores may not rule out racial test bias since better adjustment was indicated for Blacks by the Family Environment Scale. (RC)

The comparative validity of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scores for 123 African American and 561 Caucasian clients from a community mental health center was studied by contrasting mean MMPI-2 scores and correlations between these scores and therapists' ratings. Correlations were not significantly different for racial…

The purpose of the study is to examine the differential validity and prediction of the SAT using a nationally representative sample of first-year college students admitted with the revised version of the SAT. The findings demonstrate that there are similar patterns of differential validity and prediction by gender, race/ethnicity, and best…

Hispanics have become the largest minority group in the United States. Hispanic children typically come from working class homes with parents who have limited English language skills and educational training. This presents challenges to psychologists who assess these children using traditional IQ tests because of the considerable verbal and…

Results suggest that a significant proportion of observed race differences on some performance tasks may be attributable to a failure of many blacks to use spontaneously an efficient verbal strategy rather than a genetic reasoning deficit. (Author/DEP)

Reviews some better known Piagetian scales; analyzes and compares Piagetian-based and conventional intelligence measures. Reviews research comparing the two methods and examines whether racial groups' performance differs on Piagetian measures. Discusses the implications of Piagetian assessment procedures for school psychologists. (Author/RC)

Assessed test bias on the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and Bender-Gestalt. On the Bender, evidence of bias was infrequent and irregular. On the WISC-R, group differences were most discernible for age, sex, family structure, and race. Consistent patterns of bias were not apparent among comparison groups. (Author)

Test data from two diverse culture groups were analyzed to determine the agreement among four methods of detecting item bias (transformed difficulty, discrimination differences, chi-square, and item characteristic curve). The test battery contained 155 items from six subtests: vocabulary, reading comprehension, mathematics, letter groups,…

The stability was evaluated of a partial correlation index, comparisons of item characteristic curves, and comparisions of item difficulties in assessing race and sex differences in the performance of verbal items on the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test. All three indexes exhibited consistency in identifying the same items in different…

The nature of differences in performance on the third revision of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Form L-M) was assessed for two independent samples of Black (n=86) and White (n=86) preschoolers matched for parental education, age, and sex. Large differences, favoring White children, were found. Test bias is discussed. (TJH)