The empirical literature on test bias with ethnic children has been at odds with much of the case law on testing and overrepresentation in special education classes. This article reviews some of the literature that asserts that the legal mandates may have actually hurt minority children and argues that for bilingual children such a position is specious insofar as it ignores the cognitive dimensions of bilingualism and the impact of bilingualism on psychometric tests. It is proposed that the case law may actually be inadequate to protect bilingual children from misdiagnosis and that the most prudent position may well be to exclude psychometric tests from any aspect of decision making with bilingual populations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Altus, W.D. (1945). Racial and bi-lingual group differences in predictability in mean aptitude test scores in an army special training center. Psychological Bulletin, 42, 310–320.
2.
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education. (1985, 1974, 1969). Standards for educational and psychological testing.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
3.
Arnedt, C., & Gentile, J.R. (1986). A test of dual coding theory for bilingual memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 290–299.
4.
Arreola v. Santa Ana Board of Education, No. 160--577 (Orange County Ct., Cal. 1968).
5.
Bates, E. (1988). Symposium on grammatical impairment in non-Indo-European languages. 26th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, Montreal, Canada.
6.
Blair, D., & Harris, R. (1981). A test of interlingual interaction in comprehension by bilinguals. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 10, 457–467.
California State Department of Education. (1991). Special education programs for Resource Specialist Program students in the state of California.Sacramento: Author, Office of Special Education.
9.
Cleary, T.A., Humphreys, L.G., Kendrick, S.A., & Wesman, A. (1975). Educational uses of tests with disadvantaged students. American Psychologist, 15, 15–40.
10.
Cronbach, L.J. (1975). Five decades of public controversy over mental testing. American Psychologist, 30, 1–14.
11.
Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. In Office of Bilingual Bicultural Education, California State Department of Education (Eds.), Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework (pp. 3–49). Los Angeles: California State University, Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment Center.
12.
Cummins, J. (1984). Bilingual special education: Issues in assessment and pedagogy.San Diego, CA: College-Hill Press.
13.
Davenport, E.L. (1932). The intelligence quotients of Mexican and non-Mexican siblings. School and Society, 36, 304–306.
14.
Diana v. State Board of Education, C.A. NO. C-70--37 (N.D. Cal. 1970).
15.
Diaz, R. (1983). Thought and two languages: The impact of bilingualism on cognitive development. Review of Research in Education, 10, 23–54.
16.
Dornic, S. (1979). Information processing in bilinguals: Some selected issues. Psychological Research, 40, 329–348.
17.
Duran, R.P. (1983). Hispanics' education and background: Predictors of college achievement.New York: College Entrance Examination Board.
18.
Durgunoglu, A.Y., & Roediger, H.L., III. (1987). Test differences in accessing bilingual memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 26, 377–391.
19.
Feingold, G.A. (1924). Intelligence of the first generation of immigrant groups. Journal of Educational Psychology, 15, 65–82.
20.
Figueroa, R.A. (1987). Special education assessment of Hispanic pupils in California: Looking ahead to the 1990s (Special Study Grant 34--03651-J754--00--86, Special Education Division, California State Department of Education). Davis: University of California, Department of Education.
21.
Figueroa, R.A. (1989). Psychological testing of linguistic-minority students: Knowledge gaps and regulations. Exceptional Children, 56, 145–152.
22.
Figueroa, R.A. (in press). Assessment of linguistic minority group children. In C. Reynolds & R. Kamphaus (Eds.), Handbook of psychological and educational assessment of children. New York: Guilford Press.
23.
Fischler, I., Boaz, T., Weidner, J., & Randsnell, S. (1985). An ERP analysis of repetition priming in bilinguals. Paper presented at the Eighth International Congress on Evoked Potentials, Palo Alto, CA.
24.
Galloway, L. (1982). Bilingualism: Neuropsychological considerations. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 15(3), 12–28.
25.
Gandara, P., Keogh, B.K., & Yoshioka-Maxwell, B. (1980). Predicting academic performance of Anglo and Mexican American kindergarten children. Psychology in the Schools, 17, 174–177.
26.
Glanzer, M., & Duarte, A. (1971). Repetition between and within languages in free recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 10, 625–630.
27.
Grainger, J., & Beauvillain, C. (1987). Language blocking and lexical access in bilinguals. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 39A, 295–319.
28.
Grosjean, F. (1989). Neurolinguists, beware! The bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. Brain and Language, 36, 3–15.
29.
Hobson v. Hansen, 265 F. Supp. 902 (1967).
30.
Hoosian, R., & Salili, F. (1987). Language differences in pronunciation speed for numbers, digit span, and mathematical ability. Psychologia, 30, 34–38.
31.
Jensen, A.R. (1969). How much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement?Harvard Educational Review, 39(1), 1–123.
32.
Johnson, E. (1986). The role of bilingualism in color naming. Psychologia, 29, 156–164.
33.
Jose P. v. Ambach, No. C-270 (E.D.N.Y. 1979).
34.
Kardash, C., Amlund, J., Kulhavy, R., & Ellison, G. (1988). Bilingual referents in cognitive processing. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 13, 45–57.
35.
Kirshner, K., Smith, M., Lockhart, R., King, M., & Jain, M. (1984). The bilingual lexicon: Language-specific units in an integrated network. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 519–539.
36.
Kolers, P.A., & Brison, S.J. (1984). Commentary: On pictures, words, and their mental representations. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 105–113.
37.
Kolers, P.A., & Gonzales, E. (1980). Memory for words, synonyms, and translations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6, 53–65.
38.
Larry P. v. Riles, 343 F. Sup. 1306 (N.D. Cal, 1972) aff'd. 502 F.2d 963 (9th Cir. 1974); 495 F. Supp. 926 (N.D. Cal. 1979); aff'd. (9th Cir. 1984).
39.
Lora v. Board of Education of the City of New York, 587 F. Supp. 1572 (E.D.N.Y. 1984).
40.
Lopez, M., & Young, R. (1974). The linguistic interdependence of bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 102, 981–983.
41.
Mack, M. (1986). A study of semantic and syntactic processing in monolinguals and fluent early bilinguals. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 15, 463–488.
42.
MacMillan, D.L., Hendrick, I.G., & Watkins, A.V. (1988). Impact of Diana, Larry P., and P.L. 94--142 on minority students. Exceptional Children, 54, 426–432.
43.
Magiste, E., (1979). The competing language system of the multilingual: A developmental study of decoding and encoding processes. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 18, 79–89.
44.
Magiste, E. (1980). Memory for numbers in monolinguals and bilinguals. Acta Psychologica, 46, 63–68.
45.
Mercer, J.R. (1973). Labeling the mentally retarded.Berkeley: University of California Press.
46.
Mercer, J.R. (1979). The System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment: Technical manual.San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.
47.
Meyers, C.E., MacMillan, D.L., & Yoshida, R.K. (1978). Validity of psychologists' identification of EMR students in the perspective of the California decertification experience. Journal of School Psychology, 16(1), 3–15.
48.
Naveh-Benjamin, M., & Ayres, T. (1986). Digit span, reading rate, and linguistic relativity. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38A, 739–751.
49.
Ortiz, A. (1986, Spring). Characteristics of limited English proficient Hispanic students served in programs for the learning disabled: Implications for policy and practice (Part II). Bilingual Special Education Newsletter, pp. 1–5.
50.
Ortiz, A., & Yates, J. (1987). Characteristics of learning disabled, mentally retarded, and speech-language handicapped Hispanic students at initial evaluation and re-evaluation. Unpublished manuscript, University of Texas at Austin.
51.
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representations: A dual-coding approach.New York: Oxford University Press.
52.
Paivio, A., Clark, J., & Lambert, W. (1988). Bilingual dial-coding theory and semantic repetition effects on recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 14(1), 163–172.
53.
Paivio, A., & Desrochers, A. (1980). A dual-coding approach to bilingual memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 34, 390–401.
54.
Paivio, A., & Lambert, W. (1981). Dual coding and bilingual memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 20, 532–539.
55.
PASE v. Hannon, 506 F. Supp. 831 (N.D. III., 1980).
56.
Ramirez, J.D., Wolfson, R., Talmage, G.K., & Merino, B. (1986). First year report: Longitudinal study of immersion programs for language minority children (Submitted to U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC). Mountain View, CA: SRA Associates.
57.
Ransdell, S.E., & Fischler, I. (1987). Memory in a monolingual mode: When are bilinguals at a disadvantage?Journal of Memory and Language, 26, 392–405.
58.
Reynolds, C.R., & Gutkin, T.R. (Eds.). (1982). The handbook of school psychology.New York: John Wiley.
59.
Riles, W. (1974). Letter, dated June 7, 1974, from California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, distributed to all California school districts.
60.
Roediger, H., & Blaxton, T. (1987). Retrieval modes produce dissociations in memory for surface information. In D.D. Gorfein & R.R. Hoffman (Eds.), Memory and cognitive processes: The Ebbinghaus Centennial Conference. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
61.
Rose, R., & Carroll, J. (1974). Free recall of mixed language list. Psychonomic Society Bulletin, 3, 267–268.
62.
Rose, R., Rose, P., King, N., & Perez, A. (1975). Bilingual memory for related and unrelated sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1, 599–606.
63.
Rueda, R. (1989). Defining mild disabilities with language-minority children. Exceptional Children, 56, 121–128.
64.
Rueda, R., Cardoza, D., Mercer, J., & Carpenter, L. (1984). An examination of special education decision making with Hispanic first-time referrals in large urban school districts.Los Alamitos, CA: Southwest Regional Laboratory.
65.
Ruiz, N.T. (1988). Language for learning in a bilingual special education classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.
66.
Ruiz, N.T. (1989). An optimal learning environment for Rosemary. Exceptional Children, 56, 130–144.
67.
Salvia, J., & Ysseldyke, J. (1988). Assessment in special and remedial education (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
68.
Sandoval, J. (1979). The WISC-R and internal evidence of test bias with minority groups. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 919–927.
69.
Sattler, J.M. (1988). Assessment of children (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Author.
70.
Scarborough, D., Gerard, L., & Cortese, C. (1984). Independence of lexical access in bilingual word recognition. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 84–99.
71.
Soares, C., & Grosjean, F. (1984). Bilinguals in a monolingual and a bilingual speech mode: The effect on lexical access. Memory & Cognition, 12, 380–386.
72.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1987). Briefing report to the Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. Bilingual education: A new look at the research evidence. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
73.
Vaid, J. (1988). Bilingual memory representation: A further test of dual coding theory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 42(1), 84–90.
74.
Valdes, G., & Figueroa, R.A. (in press). The nature of bilingualism and the nature of testing: Towards the development of a coherent research agenda. Berkeley: University of California, National Commission on Testing and Public Policy.
75.
Valdez, R., & Valdez, C. (1983). Detecting predictive bias: The WISC-R vs. achievement scores of Mexican-American and non-minority students. Learning Disability Quarterly, 6, 440–447.
76.
Valencia, R. (1982). Predicting academic achievement of Mexican-American children: Preliminary analysis of the McCarthy Scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 42, 1269–1278.
77.
Valencia, R., & Rankin, R. (1988). Evidence of bias in predictive validity on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children in samples of Anglo and Mexican-American children. Psychology in the Schools, 25, 257–263.
78.
Wheeler, L.R. (1932). The mental growth of dull Italian children. Journal of Applied Psychology, 16, 650–667.
79.
Whitaker, H.A. (1989). Bilingualism and neurolinguistics: A note on the issues. Brain and Language, 36, 1–2.
80.
Wilkinson, C., & Holtzman, Jr., W. (n.d.). Relationships among language proficiency, language of test administration and special education eligibility for bilingual Hispanic students with suspected learning disabilities. Austin: University of Texas, Department of Special Education, Handicapped Minority Research Institute.
81.
Wilkinson, C., & Ortiz, A. (1986). Characteristics of limited English proficient and English proficient learning disabled Hispanic students at initial assessment and at re-evaluation.Austin: University of Texas, Department of Special Education, Handicapped Minority Research Institute.
82.
Willig, A.C. (1985). A meta-analysis of selected studies on the effectiveness of bilingual education. Review of Educational Research, 55, 269–317.
83.
Wood, M.M. (1929). Mental test findings with Armenian, Turkish, Greek and Bulgarian subjects. Journal of Applied Psychology, 13, 266–273.
84.
Zatorre, R.J. (1989). On the representation of multiple languages in the brain: Old problems and new directions. Brain and Language, 36, 127–147.
