The concept of 'approaches to learning' (Marton, 1976) has long assumed a position of central importance in the analysis of student learning outcomes. However, constructing effective measures of students' approaches to learning is a complex task, and it is an empirical question whether such measures transfer well across contexts. In this paper, we…

Like instruments used in afterschool programs to assess children's social and emotional growth or to evaluate staff members' performance, instruments used to evaluate program quality should be free from bias. Practitioners and researchers alike want to know that assessment instruments, whatever their type or intent, treat all people fairly and do…

Certain diversity among team members is beneficial to the growth of an organization. Multiple measures have been proposed to quantify diversity, although little is known about their psychometric properties. This article proposes several methods to evaluate the unidimensionality and reliability of three measures of diversity. To approximate the…

This guide is designed to assist States, agencies, and/or facilities who work with youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at-risk (N or D). The information in the guide will benefit those who are (a) interested in implementing pre-posttests, (b) in the process of identifying an appropriate pre-posttest, or (c) ready to evaluate current testing…

These guidelines describe considerations relevant to the assessment of test takers in or across countries or regions that are linguistically or culturally diverse. The guidelines were developed by a committee of experts to help inform test developers, psychometricians, test users, and test administrators about fairness issues in support of the…

To effectively provide early interventions to children, identifying those who are in need of these interventions is essential. In India, several problems hinder the process of early identification, including a lack of standardized measures for assessment. This study investigates the utility of the Bracken School Readiness Assessment, Third Edition…

This article presents a review of the Children's Depression Inventory 2 (CDI 2), published by Multi-Health Systems (MHS) to assess depressive symptoms in 7- to 17-year-old children and adolescents. Given the importance of early diagnosis and treatment (Kovacs & Devlin, 1998), the CDI 2 can assist professionals to pinpoint critical depressive…

Investigated was the feasibility of a prerecorded speech threshold procedure in a picture-pointing format administered to 16 Spanish-speaking children (3-6 years old) by non-Spanish-speaking clinicians. (Author/CL)

The paper examines seven pressing issues in the educational assessment of children with learning and behavior disorders. Research and court cases are cited in the discussion of the following issues (sample subtopics in parentheses): focus of assessment (for clarification, identification, and classification purposes); types of abilities evaluated…

With the increasing globalization of human resources practices, a commensurate increase in demand has occurred for multi-language ("global") personality norms for use in selection and development efforts. The combination of data from multiple translations of a personality assessment into a single norm engenders error from multiple sources. This…

Qualitative assessment methods typically are holistic and integrated. Compared with standardized tests, they offer a more active role for clients, a more intimate connection between assessment and the counseling process, and greater adaptability to ethnic, cultural, age, gender, and other individual differences. (Author/TE)

Argues in defense of Rubin's CCAI, that Powell and Avila's study did not use adequate controls to assess the instrument's reliability. Asserts that their study simply discovered differences in communication competence among ethnic groups. (MS)

Examines the performance of ethnic minority students on Rubin's CCAI, with a view toward discovering potential cultural biases embedded in the instrument. Concludes that such biases appear to exist. (MS)

Discusses four ways in which clinical diagnosis can be detrimental to minority clients: (1) cultural expressions of symptomatology; (2) unreliable research instruments; (3) clinician bias; and (4) institutional racism. Recommendations to avoid misdiagnosis begin with accurate assessment of a client's history and cultural background. (SLD)

Multicultural perspectives on assessment challenge traditional perspectives by advancing an additional source of variation in test responses that is presumed to escape test developers and test users. Increasing and convergent evidence from multiple sources indicates the following types of ethnocentric errors in test development, administration,…