| Abstract: | Examines the issues surrounding alternative assessments for culturally diverse groups. The issues discussed include: (1) the criteria that distinguish alternative assessment from traditional assessment are considerably blurred; (2) the question of whether alternative assessments are more appropriate than traditional cognitive ability assessments. The author also discusses the "real" question behind these issues: to what extent can school psychology place confidence in the expectation that social problems have measurement solutions? The term "straight talk" is also defined in this article and used to articulate what is known surrounding the use of traditional and alternative cognitive assessments with culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
