This is the first book to present a practical, problem-solving approach and hands-on tools and techniques for assessing English-language learners and culturally diverse students in K-12 settings. It meets a crucial need among practitioners and special educators working in today's schools. Provided are research-based, step-by-step procedures for conducting effective interviews with students, parents, and teachers; making the best use of interpreters; addressing special issues in the prereferral process; and conducting accurate, unbiased assessments of academic achievement, intellectual functioning, language proficiency, and acculturation. --- from the publisher Contents 1. English-Language Learners in U.S. Public Schools: A Heterogeneous Population 2. Disproportionate Representation of Diverse Students in Special Education: Understanding the Complex Puzzle 3. Legal and Ethical Requirements for the Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students 4. Bilingual Education and Second-Language Acquisition: Implications for Assessment and School-Based Practice 5. Prereferral Considerations for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students 6. The Use of Interpreters in the Assessment Process and School-Based Practice 7. The Interview Process: Practical Guidelines 8. Acculturation Factors in Psychoeducational Assessment 9. Language Proficiency Assessment: The Foundations for Psychoeducational Assessment of Second-Language Learners 10. Conceptual Measurement and Methodological Issues in Cognitive Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Individuals 11. Cognitive Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Individuals: An Integrated Approach 12. Assessment of Academic Achievement: Practical Guidelines Reviews "Given the growing numbers of linguistically and culturally diverse students in the schools--and their disproportionate representation in special education--it is critical for school psychologists, school administrators, and educators to become knowledgeable about the impact of culture and language on student achievement and behavior. This important, accessible resource synthesizes a complex body of literature in a manner that is easily understandable, and provides practical suggestions to improve prereferral and special education decision making."-Jessica Blom-Hoffman, PhD, Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology, Northeastern University "This book contains a wealth of information that every school psychologist and child psychologist assessing English-language learners should have at hand. The issues are clearly presented and carefully argued. The reader is led to appreciate the need for a complex, integrated approach for untangling the relative influence of cultural and linguistic factors on test performance."-Jonathan Sandoval, PhD, School of Education, University of California, Davis About the Authors Robert L. Rhodes, PhD, Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM; Salvador Hector Ochoa, PhD, Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; and Samuel O. Ortiz, PhD, Department of Psychology, St. John's University, Jamaica, NY
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