Abstract
Increased attention is being given to strategies for the least biased language assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse children for whom English is a second language. One main reason is the concern that the administration of language tests in English using current norms is inappropriate for students whose dominant language is other than English. This article discusses a variety of alternative assessment approaches, including renorming a test for the specific population being tested, using dynamic assessment techniques to assess a child's modifiability, using other nonstandardized measures, and modifying standardized tests. Each of these alternatives has advantages and disadvantages. In addition, results from a preliminary investigation using modifications of four subtests of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals—Third Edition (CELF-3) are presented to further the dialogue about language assessment issues. Twenty-eight bilingual Latino children, ages 8 and 9 years, were administered the CELF-3 and the modified version of the test in counterbalanced order. Clinical implications for creating least biased language assessment strategies are included as the authors provide a tutorial on the broad topic of language assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse children for whom English is a second language.
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