The lack of sensitive measures suitable for use across the range of functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a barrier to treatment development and monitoring. The Emotion Dysregulation Inventory (EDI) is a caregiver-report questionnaire designed to capture emotional distress and problems with emotion regulation in both minimally verbal…

Cognates are known to facilitate second language acquisition and use, as learners tend to assign to a new L2 word the meaning of a similar L1 word. Consequently, for L2 tests that rely largely on lexical items, performance may prove inflated for examinees whose L1 shares many cognates with the language being tested. This article examines the…

We analyzed a pool of items from an admissions test for differential item functioning (DIF) for groups based on age, socioeconomic status, citizenship, or English language status using Mantel-Haenszel and item response theory. DIF items were systematically examined to identify its possible sources by item type, content, and wording. DIF was…

This research investigates key psychometric properties of the French Early Years Evaluation-Teacher Assessment measure designed to systematically assess kindergarten children across five social and academic developmental domains: awareness of self and environment, social skills and behaviour, cognitive abilities, language and communication, and…

The paper reports on the adaptation of a D-KEFS test battery for Slovakia. Drawing on concrete examples, it describes and illustrates the key issues relating to the transfer of test items from one socio-cultural environment to another. The standardisation sample of the population of Slovak pupils in the fourth year of primary school included 250…

For educators seeking to differentiate instruction, cognitive ability tests sampling multiple content domains, including verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning, provide superior information about student strengths and weaknesses compared with unidimensional reasoning measures. However, these ability tests have not been fully evaluated with…

This study investigated the psychometrics of the "Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation-Screening Test" (DELV-S) test using confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory, and differential item functioning (DIF). Responses from 1,764 students in kindergarten through second grade were used in the study, with results indicating…

Background: Previous research with earlier versions of the WISC and WAIS has demonstrated that when administered to people who have intellectual disabilities, the WAIS produced higher IQ scores than the WISC. The aim of this study was to examine whether these differences still exist. A comparison of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third…

WISC-III scores of 233 students (ages 9 to 13) with mental retardation were examined. Boys had higher Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance IQs than did girls. Boys also had higher scores on six of the 10 subtests. In addition, all of the statistically significant differences were in favor of boys. (Author/CR)

Results suggest that a significant proportion of observed race differences on some performance tasks may be attributable to a failure of many blacks to use spontaneously an efficient verbal strategy rather than a genetic reasoning deficit. (Author/DEP)

Investigated cultural bias in 79 items of three verbal tests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Administered three subtests to 40 Anglo- and 40 Native-American Navajo subjects. Results indicated 15 of 79 items (information, similarities, and vocabulary subtests) were biased against the Navajo sample. (Author)

Two studies were conducted to assess the listening ability of 17-year-old students with particular interest in the relationship among listening ability, verbal ability, and racial/ethnic bias in the test items. The first study, a National Assessment of Educational Progress and Speech Communication Association pilot project, indicated that there…

Several samples of Black and White students were drawn from the 1970 PSAT administration in Georgia and studied for item x race interaction on both the verbal and mathematical sections of the test. When subsamples of candidates were drawn from their respective racial groups, matched on mathematical for the study of verbal items and matched on…

Scores on cognitive abilities tests administered to students (n=80; grades 4-8) being considered for gifted placement were analyzed for differences between low socioeconomic status (SES) students and average or above average SES students. Analysis indicated that the primary reason low SES students did not meet criteria for gifted placement was low…

It is unlikely that reading tests written in standard English can measure the verbal ability of nonstandard speakers. Phonological, syntactic, and lexical biases disproportionately place certain groups at a disadvantage and reinforce undesirable attitudes concerning language varieties. This can be remedied only when the society rids itself of…