Progress or Setback: Revisiting the Current State of Assessment Practices of Black Children

Abstract

The Larry P. v. Riles case highlighted the disproportional representation of Black students in special education and called for the need of fair and nondiscriminatory psychological and educational evaluations. Despite the longstanding ban of the use of cognitive assessments with Black children in the state of California, Black children continue to be overrepresented in special education across the USA and are more likely to receive subpar educational services and supports O'

Examining the Importance of Rooting out Bias Through Culturally Responsive Clinical Judgement When Assessing Black Children

“…A semi-structured interview form, developed by researchers, was used (Appendix A). Specific questions were developed to expound upon findings from a recent survey study that investigated assessment practices of Black children (Aston & Brown, 2020). The interview questions were reviewed by two school psychology faculty with expertise in nondiscriminatory assessment practices before proceeding with the interview process.…”

“…Regarding disproportionality, over half of the participant sample agreed or strongly agreed that Black students were more likely to be identified as having an intellectual disability, which is consistent with national statistics on disproportionality patterns. Like concerns raised by Beckham and his colleagues in the 1930's, the practitioners from the survey identified poverty, linguistic differences, and access to equitable educational opportunities as contributing factors that impacted the test performance of Black students (Aston & Brown, 2021). In other words, it is believed that lower scores on intelligence measures may be more indicative of the systemic inequities that Black children are more prone to encounter, rather than a true learning disability.…”

“…While previous literature has highlighted several factors that may impact the overall validity of assessment results for Black children, there remains a need to examine the specific practices that school psychologists employ when assessing a student from a minoritized group. According to Aston and Brown (2020), 42.9% of the school psychologists in their sample endorsed the belief that current intelligence tests may be culturally biased toward Black students and less than half of their entire sample agreed that intelligence tests accurately measured the intellectual ability of Black students. Regarding disproportionality, over half of the participant sample agreed or strongly agreed that Black students were more likely to be identified as having an intellectual disability, which is consistent with national statistics on disproportionality patterns.…”

Competency standards in cognitive assessment course assignments: A national analysis of school psychology syllabi.

“…More specifically, approximately 80% of states still allow for the use of cognitive assessment tests during the determination process for specific-learning disabilities (Maki et al, 2015). Furthermore, cognitive assessment instruments are integral parts of the process used to identify students for gifted services, special education, and intellectual disabilities in numerous states (Aston & Brown, 2021; Benson et al, 2020). Placement in these categories can result in life-altering results (Ballis & Heath, 2019; Ford et al, 2016; Graves & Ye, 2017; Sullivan & Field, 2013).…”

From Beckham until now: Recruiting, retaining, and including Black people and Black thought in school psychology

“…In fact, Black, feminist scholar Audre Lorde (1984) warned us, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house" (p. 110). Certainly, more radical positions (e.g., advocating for abolishing IQ tests' use with Black children altogether due to the harm they have caused Black students by contributing, for example, to their overrepresentation in special education) on IQ testing emerged later and continue to exist today (Aston & Brown, 2020;Graves, 2009;Larry P v. Riles, 1979). Yet, Beckham represents the earliest of Black scholars in school psychology who challenged the dominant narrative put forth about Black children and their intellectual capabilities.…”