AUTHENTIC AND OTHER ASSESSMENTS OF LANGUAGE DISABILITIES: WHEN IS FAIR FAIR?

This article focuses on fairness in assessing oral language prerequisites for literacy and providing equity of access to appropriate interventions. Assets and limitations of norm- and criterion-referenced testing, behavioral ratings, portfolio assessments, and self-evaluation are discussed. The focus is on inherent biases in language assessment and on limiting these biases. Multi-dimensional, multi-perspective assessments are emphasized, and selected methods are revisited from a perspective of fairness as defined here. It is suggested that important objectives are to identify students with neuropsychological bases for language and literacy deficits and to differentiate them from students with language differences, limited motivation or stimulation, or poor teaching backgrounds. Limited educational resources might then be allocated to services for students with disabilities to give them equity of access to teaching and learning.