Assessment of Limited English Proficient Hispanic Students

Abstract

This article discusses the psychoeducational assessment of limited English proficient Hispanic youngsters in the American school. Caveats in the assessment process related to the timing of the referral for evaluation, prereferral interventions, alingualism vs. bilingualism, verification of birthdates, Spanish translations of English tests, the use of interpreters, provision of information regarding the assessment process in the native language of the home, and the educational history of the student are noted. Strategies for the evaluation of background data, language functioning, intellectual functioning, academic functioning, and adaptive behavior functioning are presented. Emphasis is placed on the use of non-verbal measures of intelligence and the importance of language and academic evaluations in both English and Spanish in order to obtain comparative data.