Psychoeducational Services for Children and Youth in the Orient: Current Status, Problems, and Some Remedies*

Abstract

Utilizing information obtained through an international survey and existing literature, patterns in the practices, research, and preparation of professionals who deliver psychoeducational services to children and youth in six Oriental countries (i.e., China, Hong Kong(1), Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand) are described. Services are provided by many professional groups. While few formal programs exist for the preparation of psychologists to work in schools, those providing such services have at least a bachelor's degree. Services commonly provided include assessment, vocational and educational guidance, counseling, parent education, and teaching. School psychological services generally are not governed by legislation or professional standards. Research tends to be applied and directed toward the construction and translations of tests and toward the needs of the mentally retarded, learning disabled, and behaviorally disordered. Ten major problems creating barriers for the delivery of psychoeducational services are identified. Three suggestions to help resolve these problems are offered.

Global and Regional Perspectives on Testing Children and Youth: An Empirical Study

“…Countries in the Middle East and developing Third World tend to use more group than individually administered tests. This finding is generally consistent with an earlier report on several Oriental countries (Oakland & Hu, 1989a). The greater reliance on group tests possibly reflects a higher ratio between students and professionals in these countries, thereby requiring fewer individualised services.…”

“…This rank order exists within each of the six groupings despite significant differences in their needs and national resources. These three types of tests are also commonly used in the U.S. (Goh et al, 1981) and several Asian countries (Oakland & Hu, 1989a).…”

“…Aiken, 1988;Anastasi, 1988;Cattell &Johnson, 1986;Cohen et al, 1988;Cronbach, 1984;Mitchell, 1985;Salvia 8c Yesseldyke, 1988;Sattler, 1988;Sweetland & Keyser, 1986), conditions in most other nations are not sufficiently known. Literature that exists on assessment practices with children and youth in Australia (Ritchie, 1989); China (LaVoie, 1989a;1989b;Zhang, 1988a;1988b;1988~); Greece (Fatouros, 1984); Hungary (Klein, 1980); Israel (Raviv, 1989); the Orient (Oakland & Hu, 1989a); United Kingdom (Farrell et al, 1989); the U.S.S.R. (Holowinsky, 1984(Holowinsky, -1985Pambookian & Holowinsky, 1987); and some other countries (Aiken, 1987) is too limited and uneven to allow one to acquire an understanding of test uses internationally.…”

Qualities that will infIuence testing and assessment practices with children and youth toward the beginning of the twenty-first century: international perspectives

“…The amount of literature on test use with children and youth is considerable in the United States (e.g., Aiken, 1988;Anastasi, 1988;Cattell & Johnson, 1986;Cohen et al, 1988;Cronbach, 1984;Mitehell, 1985;Salvia & Yesseldyke, 1988;Sattler, 1988;Sweetland & Keyser, 1986, Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1990 and available from many other countries including Australia (Richie, 1989), China (LaVoie, 1989a(LaVoie, , 1989bZhang, 1988aZhang, , 1988bZhang, , 1988c, Germany (Sehorr), Greece (Fatouros, 1984), Hungary (Klein, 1980), Israel (Raviv, 1989), The Netherlands (Evers & Zaal,~ 982;Laak & Raad), the Orient (Oakland & Hu, 1989), United Kingdom (Farrell, et aI., 1989), Russia (Holowinsky, 1984-85;Pambookian & Holowisnky, 1987), Turkey (Oner, 1992); Kagiteibasi & Oney, 1992) .and others (Aikens, 1987).…”

“…An international survey of tests used with children and youth in 44 countries, not including the United States, identified 455 tests used frequently (Oakland & Hu, 1989;1991;. Some of the more important and general findings are summarized below.…”