BILINGUAL SPECIAL EDUCATION EVALUATION OF CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS USING WOODCOCK TESTS

BILINGUAL SPECIAL EDUCATION EVALUATION OF CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS

USING WOODCOCK TESTS

Criselda Guajardo Alvarado

Psycho-education evaluation of culturally and linguistically diverse students is a complex and often confusing undertaking that can intimidate even the most experienced evaluation professional. Until recent years a standardized bilingual evaluation was not possible because of a lack of test instruments in languages other than English. Within the last two decades however, more and more test batteries in other languages, especially Spanish, have been developed. These new test instruments have been warmly welcomed by professionals in the field hopeful that the advent of these tests will prove useful in conducting an appropriate and equitable evaluation of culturally and linguistically diverse students. The Woodcock tests include batteries in several languages and currently lead the field in bilingual psycho-educational evaluations. This document provides information examiners may need in order to conduct a bilingual evaluation and to help clarify some assessment issues related to the culturally and linguistically diverse population. Although this document focuses on evaluation issues of students bilingual in English and Spanish, a considerable amount of the information applies to students bilingual in English and other languages. The topics addressed are:

• general function and age range of the various English and Spanish Woodcock tests,

• special features in the English and Spanish cognitive batteries for testing individuals from bilingual backgrounds,

• special feature in the English and Spanish cognitive batteries for testing individuals with language deficiencies or language disabilities,

• interpretation considerations of test results for culturally and linguistically diverse students,

• co-normed and equated test batteries as they relate to culturally and linguistically diverse populations,

• fine points in assessing oral language proficiency and determining language dominance,

• discussion of the four basic steps in a bilingual psycho-educational evaluation, and

• bilingual cross-battery testing using Woodcock tests.

Woodcock Tests

The Woodcock tests provide a variety of assessment measures that can be utilized in bilingual evaluations. For appropriate selection of tests and their efficient use, the evaluation professional should be familiar with the available tests and their general function, language(s) of the test, age range, and assessment features specific for testing individuals from bilingual backgrounds. Table 1 lists the English and Spanish tests and provides some basic information for each test.

Table 1

Woodcock Tests

English Test

Parallel Spanish Test General Function Age Range Assessment Features for Bilingual Testing

Woodcock-Johnson® III Tests of Cognitive Ability

(WJ® III COG)

Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz® Pruebas de habilidades cognitivas (Batería® III COG) Assesses seven cognitive factors, several clinical factors, and general intellectual ability

2 to adulthood, university and college • Spanish equated to English allows direct comparisons between languages

• Includes a measure of Bilingual Verbal Ability

• Allows the acceptance of responses in languages other than the language of test

• Includes a general intellectual ability-bilingual scale

• Includes a general intellectual ability-low verbal scale

Woodcock-Johnson® III Tests of Achievement

(WJ® III ACH)

Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz® Pruebas de aprovechamiento (Batería® III APROV)

Assesses oral language reading, math, writing, science, social studies, and academic knowledge

Assesses language dominance in English and Spanish when tests of oral language in both languages are administered 2 to adulthood, university and college • Spanish equated to English allows direct comparisons between languages

• Provides a Pre-Academic Skills Cluster useful in academic screening

Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery—Revised® English Form (WLPB-R® English)

Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery—Revised® Spanish Form (WLPB-R® Spanish)

Assesses oral language, reading, and writing

Assesses language dominance in English and Spanish when tests of oral language in both languages are administered 2 to adulthood, university and college • Spanish equated to English allows direct comparisons between languages

Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey—Revised® English

(WMLS-R® English)

Form A and Form B

Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey—Revised® Spanish

(WMLS-R® Spanish)

Surveys oral language, reading, and writing

Assesses language dominance in English and Spanish when tests of oral language in both languages are administered 2 to adulthood, university and college • Spanish equated to English allows direct comparisons between languages

Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests® (BVAT®) ** (See notation below)

Measures English language proficiency and bilingual verbal ability

Provides information regarding the status of the student’s language proficiency and dominance 5 to adulthood, university and college

** The BVAT is administered in English first, and then failed items are re-administered in the other language of the student. The BVAT, therefore, cannot be said to have a parallel Spanish test. The BVAT is available in English and 17 other languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Navajo, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese).

WJ III COG and Batería III COG

The WJ III COG (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather 2001a) and Batería III COG (Muñoz-Sandoval, Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2005a) are batteries of tests that assess cognitive factors, clinical factors, and general intellectual ability. The WJ III COG and Batería III COG each have three test books: Standard Battery test book, Extended Battery test book, and Diagnostic Supplement test book (Woodcock, McGrew, Mather, & Schrank, 2003) (Muñoz-Sandoval, Woodcock, McGrew, &Mather 2005b). All 31 tests in the WJ III COG and Batería III COG are individually administered. They provide the examiner with an extensive collection of tests that can be used to create and produce an individualized bilingual evaluation.

The seven cognitive factors assessed by the WJ III COG and Batería III COG are: comprehension-knowledge, long-term retrieval, visual-spatial thinking, auditory processing, fluid reasoning, processing speed, and short-term memory (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather 2001b) (Muñoz-Sandoval, Woodcock, McGrew, Mather, 2005c). Clinical factors evaluated include: phonemic awareness, working memory, broad attention, cognitive fluency, executive processes, delayed recall, and knowledge. Table 2 presents the six major scales in the WJ III COG and Batería III COG that yield an intellectual ability score.

Table 2

WJ III COG and Batería III COG Scales

Brief Intellectual Ability (BIA) Tests 1, 5, and 6

Habilidad intelectual breve (BIA) Pruebas 1, 5, y 6

General Intellectual Ability—Standard (GIA-Std) Tests 1-7

Habilidad intelectual general—Estándar (GIA-Std) Pruebas 1-7

General Intellectual Ability—Extended (GIA-Ext) Tests 1-7 and Tests 11-17

Habilidad intelectual general—Extendida (GIA-Ext) Pruebas 1-7 y Pruebas 11-17

General Intellectual Ability—Bilingual (GIA-Bil) Tests 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 21, 23, and 31 or

Tests 3, 5, 6, 7, 21, and 23 plus BVAT

Habilidad intelectual general—Bilingüe (GIA-Bil) Pruebas 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 21, 23, y 31

General Intellectual Ability—Early Development (GIA-EDev) Tests 1, 6, 8, 21, 22, and 27

Habilidad intelectual general-Desarrollo temprano (GIA-EDev) Pruebas 1, 6, 8, 21, 22, y 27

Broad Cognitive Ability—Low Verbal (BCA-LV) Tests 3, 5, 6, 7, 21, and 23

Habilidad cognitiva amplia—Verbal reducida (BCA-LV) Pruebas 3, 5, 6, 7, 21, y 23

Assessment Features of the Cognitive Tests Specific for Individuals from Bilingual Backgrounds

Not only are the Woodcock tests available in several languages, the WJ III COG and Batería III COG (as well as other Woodcock tests) incorporate several special features that allow for a more appropriate and equitable assessment of students from bilingual and multilingual backgrounds. One such feature is the statistical equating of the Spanish forms of the tests to the English forms allowing for direct comparison of abilities and skills between the two languages. Another feature is the novel provision for testing bilingual verbal comprehension, not simply verbal comprehension in one language. Yet another feature offers the ability to accept responses in a language other than the language of the test. Lastly, the GIA-Bil Scale (Alvarado, 1999) incorporates all these features for testing students from bilingual backgrounds.

Equated Test Batteries. A critical feature in test batteries that have two language forms and are designed for use in testing students from bilingual backgrounds is the capability of the test batteries to allow comparison of abilities and skills between those two languages.

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