Volume 59, No. 1Winter 2009

Letters to the Editor

Editor’s note: The letter was received in response to an article published in the Fall 2008 edition of CASP Today titled “Assessment of African American Students: A Survey of School Psychologists,” which recorded Northern California school psychologists’ practices of assessing African-American students. The article is online in the members only section of the CASP web site.

Dear Editor:

I have a question about the article in the CASP Today about use of cognitive measures with African-American students. In the survey cited, it appears that more than 60% of us are using prohibitedtests – DAS and the UNIT (which is illegal) with African American students. The article didn't point this out. Although I personally believe that the UNIT and DAS are not as culturally biased as the WISC, the Larry P. ruling still stands. It doesn't matter that they were not in existence prior to the Larry P. ruling.The ruling includes any test that can yield and IQ score. I just looked into this, and legal advice from Protection and Advocacy still states that any test that could even be construed as an IQ test is prohibited.I worry about my colleagues in districts that use these tests as a rule.

Perhaps a follow up article can help us with this.So far, the NEPSY is one of the few more comprehensive tests that does not yield an overall "IQ" type score and I feel very safe defending it. Recently there was a round of e-mails that went around about this.It came to the attention of the California Department of Education. There seemed to be continued confusion from many of us out in the field.

Thanks!

Kelley Labus

School Psychologist, MCOE

Special Education

Response from the article authors:

In response to a recent letter to the CASP Today Editor regarding the article: “Assessment of African American Students: A Survey of School Psychologists”, this reply is being submitted.

Dear Ms. Labus,

Thank you for taking time to respond to our article in CASP Today about cognitive assessment of African American students. You noted that 60% of the California school psychologists who responded to our survey reported that they use the DAS and/ or the UNIT to test African American students. You further pointed out that the article did not explicitly state that the use of these tests is illegal.

The authors of the article are in complete agreement with your interpretation of the Larry P. guidelines. Because the DAS and UNIT yield full scale scores that either purport, or can be construed, to measure overall cognitive ability, the guidelines prohibit use of these tests to assess African American students.

Members of the survey team had several discussions about ways to present the data on illegal test use. Our rationale for not directly labeling the testing practices as illegal was tied to the purposes of our study. The survey was conducted as a needs assessment to describe current practices, gauge psychologists’ satisfaction with those practices, and find out more about the level of confusion in the field about what practices are acceptable. The data were used to help determine the need psychologists have for better guidelines or methods.

The widespread use of prohibited tests appears to be based, in part, on confusion about the guidelines, mixed messages to school psychologists from those who interpret the guidelines, and variations in district policies. Most of all, we feel that the problem stems from psychologists’ strong commitment to diagnose and get help for their students in conjunction with their feelings that they lack viable alternative methods of assessment. Therefore, we did not feel that it would be productive to accuse or place blame on the psychologists who use prohibited tests. This was a difficult decision and was not intended to add to the lack of clarity that surrounds the subject. Based on the survey findings, we are trying to find ways to offer better assessment alternatives to psychologists working with African American students.

Again, thank you for your interest in this subject and for sharing your thoughts with us. Not surprisingly, we are finding that the development of alternative assessment strategies and guidelines presents a major challenge and we welcome any suggestions you may have.

Sincerely,

Marji Stivers, Ph.D. and Renée Dawson, Ph.D.

Diagnostic Center of Northern California Team: Mary Anne Nielsen, Phoebe Howard, Jennifer Simmons, Laurie Berberian (former employee), Mirit Friedland, Gina O’Brien, Marji Stivers, and Renée Dawson

Letters to the editor are welcome in CASP Today. Please email them to or mail them to CASP 1020 12th St., Suite 200, Sacramento, CA95814.