When embedded within a continuum of mental health services including both prevention and treatment, school-based mental health identification programs can promote improved academic and mental health functioning among students. This article describes the scientific status of assessment instrumentation that may be used for early mental health…

Deaf elementary school children were administered the Leiter International Performance Scale and the five nonauditory, nonverbal subtests of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. The intellectual quotient derived from the Leiter and the psycholinguistic quotient derived from the five visually oriented subtests were then correlated. The…

This article reviews and critiques studies involving the WISC with samples of blind subjects. Discussion focuses on reliability, validity, and research strategy. Recommendations and suggestions for further research place emphasis upon experimental analysis of behavior. (Author)

A variety of court decisions and laws relevant to malpractice and liability of school psychologists are presented. Terms are defined and examples of faulty psychological testing, defamation, withholding information, and inferred imcompetence are provided. Suggestions regarding litigation and legal defenses are made and issues related to…

The reliability and predictive validity of the WPPSI was investigated with a sample of lower SES Mexican-American children. The results revealed that the WPPSI has high reliability, as determined by internal consistency procedures, but validity coefficients were not significant. The WPPSI may be inappropriate for special program placement purposes…

The author suggests ways school districts can diminish the possibility of legal action against them by parents who object to psychological testing. These suggestions are also aimed at permitting the psychologist to function in a more secure setting and be seen in a more positive light by the community. (Author)

Ethical considerations in use of computers in psychological testing and assessment are discussed. Existing ethics and standards that provide guidance to users of computerized test interpretation and report-writing programs are discussed and guidelines are suggested. Areas of appropriate use of computers in testing and assessment are explored.…

A study was conducted to ascertain whether use of an interpreter and/or a regular examiner in administering the WISC would affect test results of a group of Mexican-American children. Spanish administration of some scales of the performance test are likely to elicit optimum performance. (Author)

Studied the degree to which skewed score distributions can affect the interpretation of Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) Results suggest indices of score variability such as average deviation and standard scores must be interpreted with extreme caution when skewness is a significant factor. (Author)

Uses verbatim examples from observation notes to describe common pitfalls of beginning testers in the area of rapport with children. Concluded that trainees in testing often cannot translate guidelines in the literature into effective rapport in the testing session. Observation of test administration in a realistic setting is essential. (JAC)

Investigated cultural bias in the 46 verbal items of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) in 59 Anglo- and 59 Mexican-American children. Analysis of the data revealed that the majority of the verbal items of the MSCA are free from cultural bias. (JAC)

Psychologists (N=40) were surveyed about reevaluations of special education students. Responses indicated that reevaluations comprised a substantial portion of evaluations, involved a considerable amount of time, and were perceived as an important check on a child's diagnosis and placement. (Author/HLM)

Although authors have varied opinions, it is the general concensus that the WISC-R is superior to the WISC. This author concurs. However, serious consideration should be given to the research findings before the WISC-R is substituted freely for the WISC as a criterion for special education placement. (Author)

Two nested structural models are developed to determine whether test-session behaviors affect the manner in which intelligence is measured or influence the constructs being measured. Results indicate that test-session behaviors play a larger role influencing the mechanisms of measurement than on the constructs of intelligence. (Author/EMK)