Assessment of Migrant and Minority Children

Abstract

Testing children with minority status or migration background poses particular challenges for educators and researchers. More obvious are language barriers, but there may also be more complex limitations based on cultural or contextual differences. The literature on testing migrant and minority children is summarized in a brief historical perspective, focusing on the use of standardized tests. Potential biases in testing minority and migrant children are discussed, and empirical results of testing two groups of preschool age children of nonmigrant (N = 50) and migrant status (N = 35) with the ET 6–6 in Germany are presented. Results indicate significant group differences to the disadvantage of the migrant children in some scales, however, both groups scored within the normal range of one standard deviation around the test norm. The migrant group children were tested in their dominant language, and they used more time to complete the test. Interpretation of test results should use caution, particularly when using tests to support placement in educational settings.

Psychology of Forced Displacement and Migration: A systematic review of the scientific literature

“…Several studies have examined FDM in migrant children and adolescents and schools as mediators of conflicts inherent to this process: assessment of migrant children (Schölmerich, Leyendecker, Citlak, Caspar, & Jäkel, 2008); relationship between rural and urban migrant children (Shi, Qian, Lu, Plucker, & Lin, 2012). These samples were also extended to teachers, parents, and the school community (Valdez, Lewis Valentine, & Padilla, 2013).…”

“…One article analyzed children (Schölmerich et al, 2008), teachers, parents and students (5), families (2), individuals (3) and adolescents (1) (Neto, 2010). Dominant theories -to establish the dominant theories of the revision we observed which themes were more often repeated in the bibliographical references of each article.…”

“…They focused on migrant populations (Garcia et al, 2014;Sacipa et al, 2007;Schölmerich et al, 2008), host populations (Murray & Marx, 2013) and experiences (Sonn, Ivey, Baker, & Meyer, 2015) from specific populations (countries, ethnicity, etc. ), as well as permanence in the host community (Sezgin, 2016;Valdez et al, 2013).…”

Kognitive Entwicklungsrisiken bei zweisprachig aufwachsenden Kindern mit Migrationshintergrund im Vorschulalter

“…Außerdem sollte eindeutig definiert werden, welche spezifischen Kompetenzen erworben werden sollen. Ziel einer Förderung der natürlichen Zweisprachigkeit sollte der Aufbau einer differenzierten Sprachverwendung der deutschen Sprache bei gleichzeitiger Anerkennung der mehrsprachlichen Kompetenzen sein (Gogolin, 2008 (Schölmerich, Leyendecker, Citlak, Caspar, Jäkel, 2008), die in die Interpretation von Ergebnissen einzubeziehen sind. Umso bedauerlicher ist der Umstand, dass der SES in der vorliegenden Studie nicht ausreichend erhoben werden konnte.…”

We Can Get There: Understanding The High School Experience Of Latin@s In A Large Suburban School District

“…They have been able to attend preschool and have had two parents who have read to them and helped them with their school work. Scholmerich, Leyendecker, Citlak, Caspar, and Jakel (2008) noted that success on standardized tests requires a certain level of specialized knowledge embedded within the culture.…”