Cultural Bias and Identification of Behaviorally Disordered Children

Abstract

Arguments over cultural bias in testing has xtended to behavioral disorders. Social behavior is currently being diagnosed through behavior rating scales. These instruments are open to criticism because they are often judged to be normal middle class behaviors. In this study a 5-step procedure was used to establish item bias on the Social Behavior Assessment Scale with Mexican-American children, grades one through three, as subjects. Results reveal that Mexican Americans are less likely to be given negative scores than are Anglos. Moreover, there are clear indications that teachers regard problem behaviors of Anglo and Mexican-American children differently. Further evidence suggests some ethnographic predictions of problems for the Mexican-American subjects. However, bias was not found in the instrument itself. Differential scores on the rating forms were either an indication of teacher bias or of real cultural differences.