School Psychologists' Assessment Practices with Bilingual and Limited-English-Proficient Students

Abstract

This study, a survey of 859 National Association of School Psychologist (NASP) members from eight states, identified school psychologists' assessment practices with bilingual and limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and compared test usage frequencies between English-only and bilingual psychoeducational assessment. Cognitive, achievement, and adaptive behavior domains were examined. In the area of cognitive assessment, the WISC-R or WISC-III administered in English only was the measure most frequently used. Moreover, the use of nonverbal intelligence tests appeared to be a common practice. With respect to achievement testing in English and Spanish, the Woodcock instruments were used by approximately three-fourths of the respondents. Curriculum-based assessment was employed significantly more often in bilingual psychoeducational assessment than in traditional English-only assessment. For assessing adaptive behavior, 90% of the sample used at least one of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Survey Scales. Across all three domains, there was much more diversity in test usage in bilingual psychoeducational assessment in comparison to assessment conducted with English-speaking pupils. An evaluation of and recommendations for assessment practices with LEP and bilingual students are provided.