Four approaches to the classification of 110 students as mentally retarded were investigated. The frequency of classification of educable mentally retarded (EMR) and trainable mentally retarded (TMR) and nonretarded (NMR) Ss from three racial-ethnic groups (Anglos, Mexican Americans, and Blacks) and two socioeconomic groups (middle and low) was…

After studying the testing and remedial programs used in Florida's public schools, the Task Force on Educational Assessment Programs presented its findings and recommendations. Findings are reported regarding: the schedule for implementing the testing program (which requires that students pass the Functional Literacy Test before they may graduate…

Most of the arguments lodged against minimum competency testing are really observations about the abuses of testing. Blacks and other minority groups are understandably mistrustful of recent developments in minimum competency testing--possible grounds for legal challenges include the adequacy of the phase-in periods; the match between tests and…

The author takes the position that standardized tests, as presently developed and marketed, do have potentially positive uses. However, these advantages are outweighed by the tests' deleterious effects on children and programs. Standardized tests refer to published, norm referenced, achievement and intelligence tests which contain specific…

Six speech and language clinicians, 3 black and 3 white, administered the Goodenough Drawing Test (1926) to 144 preschoolers. The 4 groups, lower-socioeconomic black and white and middle-socioeconomic black and white, were equally divided by sex. The biracial clinical setting was shown to influence test scores in black preschool age children.…

To meet several pre-evaluation goals of the national Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) Evaluation study, the following activities that were undertaken are described: selection of an achievement measure; a pretest of this measure to assess student needs in schools eligible to receive funds under the Act (schools with a minority enrollment of 50…

It is asserted in this paper that some standardized tests do not do a good job of what they claim to do, and for some testing purposes nonstandardized tests are more appropriate or efficient. Under present circumstances, group I.Q. tests should be abolished. They provide no useful information that cannot be gained from achievement tests. And what…

This paper, based on a book on the assessment of minority students, is a critical review of the research done heretofore on intelligence testing. It deals with such issues as: the social criticism of testing through numerous lawsuits, court rulings, and in the positions taken by the Association of Black Psychologists and the American Personnel and…

Problems in the interpretation of standardized tests used to group children of limited backgrounds, cultural bias in tests, and the misuse of tests are considered. Reports on the use of specific tests with disadvantaged students are reviewed and some of the efforts being made to provide better interpretive data are discussed. Alternative…

Two hypotheses were tested in this study: that second grade students who receive instruction and practice in nonsubstantive test taking techniques will achieve higher standardized reading test scores than second grade students who do not receive this instruction and practice both immediately following treatment and four months after treatment. The…

In a comparative evaluation of a standard true-false format for personality assessment and a forced-choice format, subjects from college residential units were assigned randomly to respond either to the forced-choice or standard true-false form of the Personality Research Form (PRF). All subjects also rated themselves and the members of their…

Equations for the prediction of college grades from test scores and high school grades were compared for Mexican-Americans and other students at three universities of the California State University and Colleges system. With rare exceptions, regression equations for the prediction of grades for Mexican-Americans did not differ from those for other…

Testing with minority and disadvantaged populations in America has resulted in widespread abuse. Theorists have historically viewed tests as instruments for upward mobility in a system in which doors are often opened by parental wealth and status. Predictive validity of tests has not properly accounted for problems in correlational techniques…

This paper argues that the mental health needs of Black children and families have never been properly assessed. Central to Black mental health has been the notion of cultural normality and deviance and the related questions of adjustment and maladjustment. Research is needed in three areas: (1) the Black family, (2) schools, (3) tests and…

This paper reviews 15 research studies that: (1) examined effects of particular accommodations or groups of accommodations on performance: and (2) employed experimental and quasi-experimental research designs that allowed examination of the effect of the accommodation(s) on English Language Learners (ELLs) and non-ELLs. Studies looked at one or…