Testing the Tests: An Investigation into the Effec tiveness of Alternative Assessment Methods for Bilingual Language-Impaired Children

Abstract Alternative language assessment procedures are gaining in prominence as authentic alternati ves to traditionalmeasures, but scant data exist regarding the relative effectiveness of the data they provide. Thi s paper first summarizesthe criteria for effective language assessment of bilingual children as documented in the literature, and thencomparatively evaluates the effectiveness of research studies employing the three most-ci ted alternative assessmentapproaches: descriptive, dynamic, and curriculum-based. Conclusions regarding the impact of appropriate asses smenton issues of over- and under-representation of bilingual Hispanic students are also discussed. Testing the Tests: An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Alternative Assessmen t Methods forBilingual Language-Impaired Children Limited data exist regarding the impact of limited English proficiency on the referral and placeme nt of bilingualchildren in special education and speech-language programs. The need for this type of information is becomingincreasingly urgent. Minority populations are growing at unprecedented rates and the nation’s classrooms a re becomingrapidly multicultural. Of the 63 racial/cultural categories identified by the US Bureau of the Census (2000), H ispanicscomprise the fastest growing minority population in the United States —having grown from about 9 % of the UnitedStates population in 1990, to about 13 % in 2000. Whereas in 1982, Hispanics comprised only 1 in 10 school-agedchildren, this number is expected to increase to 1 in 3 by the year 2020 (Gersten & Woodward, 1994; US CensusReport, 2000).The assessments of children who are linguistically different as well as culturally divers e has become one ofeducation’s greatest challenges. The stakes multiply in importance for students being asse ssed for special educationor speech-language pathology (SLP) services. For such students, the assessment process has been call ed into question,especially in light of the fact that students from minority populations (especially Hispanics a nd African-Americans)are disproportionately overrepresented in special education. For example, according to data cited by Correa andHeward (2000), although 32.5 % of the entire school-age population can be classified as minority, nearly 40 % ofchildren identified as mild or moderately mentally impaired belong to a minority group. In terms of the Hispanicpopulation, evidence of both over- and under-representation exists. Current data indicate that 80% of Hispanicsreferred for special education services are placed in learning disability (LD) and speech-language pat hology (SLP)programs— both of which directly involve language proficiency and competence. The rise in the number ofHispanic students now being referred to LD and SLP programs has been accompanied by a comparable reduction inthe number of Hispanic students now being placed in programs for children who are mildly mentally retarded orgifted and talented (Ortiz, 1997). Several possible causes for this disparity have been cited in the literature. Burnett (2000) attributes the crisisto the national scarcity of qualified bilingual personnel and the lack of appropriate assessment tools , but Oritz andGarcia (1995) place the blame on a broader set of causative factors includingthe absence of guidelines and data which can be used to developprocedures which (a) help distinguish cultural or linguistic differencesfrom disabilities, (b) yield a non-biased assessment, (c) assure due processin decision making, and (d) result in individualized education programswhich help language-minority students with disabilities achieve their potential(p.147).