ABSTRACT
The accurate assessment of children’s functioning continues to be a critical concern to educators and especially school psychologists. A National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) survey revealed that school psychologists spend as much as one half (or more) of their professional time on assessment (NASP, n.d.). School psychologists are considered the gatekeepers of special education. In order to gain admittance into the special programs, most school psychologists use a discrepancy model between a student’s cognitive and achievement abilities, although changes are on the horizon, including response to intervention (RTI). Cognitive abilities were defined as the intellectual processing of students, whereas achievement abilities focused on academic skill sets; however, as the landscape of the United States is vastly changing, so is the significance (or lack thereof) of traditional psychoeducational assessment. Another reason for this shift is the growing realization that traditional norm-referenced assessment, despite early indication to the contrary, has limited utility for teachers and others involved in delivering instruction to children (Chittooran & Miller, 1998). Clearly, findings of studies (Dolan, 1999) suggest that the consideration of students, especially students of color, as a referral for a psychoeducational assessment should take into account that particular’s child’s cognitive style, family expectations, and background, as well as specific classroom behaviors. “An awareness of the attitudes of the child’s family towards schooling, academic achievement, school attendance and school completion is necessary in order to account for factors outside the classroom that may be influencing the child’s learning” (Dolan, 1999, p. 70).
