The evaluation of sign language proficiency needs to be based on measures with well-established psychometric proprieties. To date, no valid and reliable test is available to assess Polish Sign Language ("Polski Jezyk Migowy," PJM) skills in deaf children. Hence, our aim with this study was to adapt the British Sign Language Receptive…

Problems of using standardized tests with multicultural/multilingual Alaskan native students include cultural bias and examiner bias. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was administered to 320 Alaskan native children in an attempt to establish local norms for the WISC-R. Results showed that bicultural/bilingual children…

Surveyed elementary school teachers and parents from two cultural groups--Middle Eastern and White Other--regarding their views on standardized testing. Parents supported use of tests to compare teachers, schools, districts, and administrators, while teachers opposed such uses and reported considerable personal stress and some child stress due to…

Existing research indicates that there is a disproportionate number of students with cultural and linguistic differences, English Language Learners (ELL), who are misidentified as learning disabled when their problems are due to cultural and/or linguistic differences. As a consequence, these students do not receive appropriate services. With the…

Examines potential sources of bias in aptitude and achievement testing of minority and, particularly, Black students. Holds that bias in standardized tests cannot be properly understood without reference to the socioeconomic matrix from which it has evolved. (Author/GC)

This review analyzes traditional standardized assessment practices to determine if they recognize cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and disability differences. It then examines the extent to which these assessment practices are being used in transition for decision-making and predicting post-school outcomes. The review begins with a historical…

This fact sheet lists problems involved in the use of standardized tests. It is argued that standardized tests are not really fair and helpful evaluation tools because they reward the ability to answer superficial questions quickly and do not measure the ability to think or create in any field. They also assume that all test takers have been…