The paper discusses a new battery of tests, the Assessment of Basic Competencies, designed for fair assessment of the latent abilities of minority group children. It is explained that the tests provide diagnostic assessment in several domains of competence that are considered important for school learning. The three domains, information…

The study evaluated the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA), an approach to nondiscriminatory assessment, with special emphasis on its impact on educational decisionmaking and on educational planning for exceptional children. Initial chapters focus on the SOMPA's theoretical framework contrasted to traditional assessment…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, the Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test (NNAT), and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) in selecting for ethnically diverse students who may be gifted. The participants of the study were 175 students enrolled in Grades 3-5 and Grade 8 in a…

The authors suggest that efforts to comply with the protection in evaluation procedures provisions of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) have been characterized by attempts to identify a single fair test for use with specific groups of minority children, and that such efforts will not result in improved efforts to…

Defines test bias as a phenomenon in which test scores result in negative outcomes for certain groups, often lower socioeconomic groups and minorities. Discusses three manifestations of test bias including content, atmosphere, and use bias and presents recommendations for remedying bias problems in testing the culturally different. (JAC)

The paper reviews the literature on assessment of gifted minority students, focusing first on the importance of appropriate assessment methods, and then on research on specific approaches used to identify gifted Black, Hispanic (mainly Mexican-American), Asian/Pacific, and American Indian students. A discussion section cites five common elements…

An overview is presented of the current status of competency testing for teacher certification. The question of the effect of certification tests on the quality of hired teachers is briefly discussed. Statistics are presented on types of tests used by various states, with particular attention to differences in the cut-off scores for passage of a…

Issues surrounding the concept of nonbiased assessment, particularly with economically disadvantaged minority students, are analyzed. The legal requirements are focused on thorough discussion of litigation and legislation. The second section explores research on the use of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Research…

The paper describes a modified method of J. Mercer's System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment, in which only two factors (occupation and dwelling area) are used to assess socioeconomic status as a determiner of expected mean score on an IQ test. For validation, data by Mercer and the author are compared. (Author/SBH)

The paper discusses the various problems related to the current concerns with nonbiased assessment, with particular emphasis on the placement of minority group students in classes for the mildly retarded. Sections address the following topics: special education litigation; underlying issues in court cases (including the meaning of IQ test results,…

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…

The document presents findings from a comprehensive review of the literature on the topic of nonbiased assessment. An introductory chapter describes the review's conceptual framework. Chapters 2 through 9 present analyses of the following major aspects of the topic (sample subtopics in parentheses): historical perspectives (ancient influences,…

Presented in the annotated bibliography are approximately 50 citations (1974-1976) on nondiscriminatory testing of handicapped and culturally different students. Information is said to have been drawn from volume eight of Exceptional Child Education Resources. Entries are arranged by accession number and usually contain information on author,…

The author describes a psychological assessment process for use with the disadvantaged preschooler which involves screening (identification), diagnostic evaluation, instruction related assessment (formative evaluation), evaluation of the results of instruction (summative evaluation), and prediction of readiness. Some generalizations which apply to…

The report describes research on the effects of labeling children from minority groups as retarded and includes a review of a system of multiculturalistic pluralistic assessment (SOMPA), an instrument for evaluating the abilities and potentialities of children based on different aspects of performance. Listed among findings of the Riverside study,…