Scores of two groups of White and Hispanic children at 11 age levels from 2.5 years to 12.5 years were assessed. The scores were drawn from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), an individually administered assessment battery designed to measure intelligence and achievement and intended for minority group assessment. Reliability…

An attempt was made to determine whether a non-response bias exists in the annual follow-up surveys of graduates of teacher education programs when the surveys focus on more than employment. Subjects were 291 graduates of teacher certification programs at a major university in the southeastern United States from Fall 1986 through Summer 1987. In…

This Digest overviews legal challenges in five areas of test use for decision-making in schools: ability tracking, placement in special education classes, test scores as college admissions criteria, test disclosure, and teacher competency testing. Cases illustrating these challenges are described and include: Hobson v. Hansen (1967), Moses v.…

This booklet is intended to help school personnel, parents, students, and members of the community understand concepts and research relating to achievement testing in public schools. The paper's sections include: (1) test use with direct effects on students (test of certification, selection, and placement); (2) test use with indirect effects on…

In a study of the usefulness of the Rasch model for examining tests for possible bias, 102 native Spanish-speaking and 104 native English-speaking preschool four-year-olds in a remedial education program were administered Spanish and English versions of the Cooperative Preschool Inventory, a standardized measure of school readiness, The Rasch…

This paper analyzes research findings about the role of values and beliefs in aptitude testing. Indications are found that the ongoing controversy over the lack of ethnic, racial, and sex fairness in aptitude testing is rooted in the tests themselves. Test designers, it is argued, are influenced by their socioeconomic position (they are usually…

Differential item performance (DIP) is discussed as a concept that does not necessarily imply item bias or unfairness to subgroups of examinees. With curriculum-based achievement tests, DIP is presented as a valid reflection of group differences in requisite skills and instruction. Using data from a national testing of the ACT Assessment, this…

This study determines whether Black students who have been placed in an EMR program on the basis of WISC full scale IQ scores as the primary criterion measure would be ruled out when tested on the BITCH. Results indicate that students obtain similar scores on both tests. (Author)

Cognitive deficits in Black and other minority children have been assumed, described, and explained. This article presents an overview of this "conversation" and its implication, discusses relevant but often overlooked research, provides additional references and suggests directions for research. (Author)

In order to appropriately interpret norm referenced measures, we need to know the characteristics of persons in the standardization sample. Mercer (1977) states that evidence from three sources should be examined when deciding if pluralistic norms are needed. First, do racial-ethnic groups differ on important social, economic, and cultural…

Educational Testing Service (ETS) research that is relevant to the concerns of women and the educational process can be categorized into four areas: (1) research primarily about women; (2) research focusing on sex differences or similarities; (3) research that reports, but does not focus on sex differences; and (4) research identifying methods of…

The paper describes different concepts of bias in tests and presents data on the possible effects of using sociocultural background in the interpretation of standardized test results. Five different definitions of the concept of test bias are explored: equality of means among groups, equal proportions, fairness in predictions, social utility…

Describes the research approach used to develop the MAT-SEA-CAL Oral Proficiency tests designed by the authors. Language test performance depends on both language proficiency and knowledge of the culture. (TL)

Author presented some of the constructive things that school psychologists can do to assess more adequately disadvantaged minority group children. (Author/RK)