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…

In 1991, Bracken and Barona wrote an article for "School Psychology International" focusing on state of the art procedures for translating and using tests across multiple languages. Considerable progress has been achieved in this area over the 25 years between that publication and today. This article seeks to provide a more current set…

The spread of academic testing for accountability purposes in multiple countries has obscured at least two historical purposes of academic testing: community ritual and management of the social structure. Testing for accountability is very different from the purpose of academic challenges one can identify in community "examinations" in…

In this article, the authors present the adaptation and validation processes conducted to render the American "Test of Financial Literacy" (TFL) suitable for use in Germany (TFL-G). First, they outline the translation procedure followed and the various cultural adjustments made in line with international standards. Next, they present…

This guide is designed to assist States, agencies, and/or facilities who work with youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at-risk (N or D). The information in the guide will benefit those who are (a) interested in implementing pre-posttests, (b) in the process of identifying an appropriate pre-posttest, or (c) ready to evaluate current testing…

These guidelines describe considerations relevant to the assessment of test takers in or across countries or regions that are linguistically or culturally diverse. The guidelines were developed by a committee of experts to help inform test developers, psychometricians, test users, and test administrators about fairness issues in support of the…

Testing Spanish speakers presents certain challenges common to all testing circumstances involving test takers whose first language is not English. In addition, some unique challenges arise because there are many subpopulations of Spanish speakers both inside and outside of the United States. Spanish as spoken in Spain differs from that spoken in…

Notes that efforts are being made to validate the Rorschach with minority cultures and that preliminary psychometric review of Rorschach data tends to confirm its usefulness in cross-cultural work, and the legitimacy of the concept of modal personality. Reviews several significant issues in cross-cultural use of Rorschach, including norms,…

This discussion of high stakes tests explores criticisms commonly made of the use of these tests and suggests some additional reasons educators and the public should not rely on high stakes tests as the single source of data about student achievement. The United States has no national educational policy on standards of knowledge. Each state is…

Three standard assessment instruments (Rorschach, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and 16PF) were administered to 12 participating Rosebud Sioux Indians--6 males, 6 females. Reports were generated for each instrument. Consensual and unique concepts contained in all the reports were analyzed in order to describe the contents. Six judges, all…

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…

The author discusses his observations from administering such tests as the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) to young disabled children in Costa Rica. Cultural influences and nuances of translations are seen to affect performance. Factors involved in remediation programing are also noted. A final consideration is the "barrio…

Describes acculturation measures for Hispanic Americans: Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans, Cultural Life Style Inventory, Bicultural/Multicultural Experience Inventory, Measure of Acculturation, and Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire. Discusses acculturation assessment issues: direct versus indirect measurement, potential…

A study investigated the reliability and validity of the Study Process Questionnaire (Biggs) for 352 undergraduates in a Nigerian university. Although it was found that the concepts involved were relevant to this population and scales and subscales had adequate internal consistency, cross-cultural comparison of scores was problematic. (Author/MSE)

Presents a case study involving three incoming first-year community college students who were advised into developmental reading courses because of low scores on the Nelson Denny Reading Test. Finds that while the developmental reading course was beneficial for two of the students, it was found to be an unnecessary course for the third student.…