Vol. 6 in the Multilingual Matters series.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 276-297.), author and subject index.

1. Introduction -- Objectives and scope -- Overview -- The United States context -- The Canadian context -- Conclusion

2. Referral and Assessment of Minority Students: An Empirical Study -- Quantitative analysis: The Teacher referral -- The psychological assessment -- Qualitative analysis: I. The teacher referral -- II. The psychological assessment -- Summary and conclusions

3. The Origins of Bias in IQ Tests -- The "Post-Jensen" debate -- Assumptions underlying IQ test construction -- "Intelligence" as a function of experience: The Azorean example -- Homogenizing schools and society: The role of IQ tests

4. The Construct of "Learning Disability" -- Definition of "learning disabilities" -- The measurement of learning disabilities -- Identification of learning disabilities -- Remedial pedagogy -- Conclusion

5. Underachievement among minority children -- What constitutes evidence? Research, theory and policy -- Patterns of minority student academic achievement -- Explaining patterns of minority student underachievement -- Conclusion

6. Language proficiency, bilingualism and academic achievement -- The construct of language proficiency -- Evolution of a theoretical framework for conceptualizing language proficiency -- Conceptualizing bilingual proficiency -- Illustrative bilingual programme evaluations -- Conclusion

7. Learning difficulties in "Immersion" programmes -- "Immersion" for minority students academically at risk -- Immersion programmes and learning difficulties in the majority context -- Conclusion

8. Assessment of Bilingual Exceptional Students -- Academic task analysis for diagnostic assessment -- Cognitive assessment based on WISC-R performance -- Assessment of L1 cognitive functioning -- "Culture-fair" assessment procedures -- Dynamic assessment: Feuerstein's Learning Potential Assessment Device -- Evaluation of bilingual language difficulties -- Assessment of other exceptionalities among bilingual students

9. Pedagogical Assumptions Underlying Special Education -- Language use at home and at school -- Principles of second language acquisition -- The acquisition of literacy -- Evaluation of a transmission programme: DISTAR -- Evaluation of a reciprocal interaction programme: Finding out / descubrimiento -- Longitudinal monitoring within a reciprocal interaction model -- Conclusion

10. From Research and Theory to Policy and Practice -- Directions for change -- Constraints on change

"Increased attention has been devoted during the past decade to the special learning needs of students who are "exceptional" in some way, whether as a result of specific learning difficulties, communication disorders, sensory problems, or, at the opposite extreme, as a result of special talents or gifts. Legislation in several countries requires school systems to identify exceptional students and to provide them with an education appropriate to their needs and abilities. In practice, however, this mandate has proven difficult to implement, and this is especially so in the case of bilingual students. Traditional assessment procedures have been shown to discriminate against linguistically- and culturally-different students, yet alternative procedures are by no means obvious. Appropriate strategies for remediating bilingual students' academic difficulties are similarly unclear. Bilingualism and Special Education has practical focus in that it examines the effectiveness of alternatives to traditional assessment and pedagogical practices for bilingual children. However, a central theme of the book is that progress can be made in improving practice only by means of a thorough re-examination of the assumptions underlying the entire special education enterprise, and particularly the diagnostic-prescriptive medical model that dominates much current practice. Drawing on an in-depth study of more than 400 psychological assessments of minority students, the book critically analyses constructs such as "intellectual quotient" (IQ), "learning disability", "language proficiency" and "bilingual proficiency", as well as the causes of minority students' underachievement. It is argued that many of the academic difficulties experienced by bilingual students are pedagogically-induced, in that both regular and remedial teaching practices frequently violate what we know about how language and other forms of knowledge are most effectively acquired. Within the context of the medical model, assessment practices locate the "problem" within the child, thereby "screening" the pedagogy from critical scrutiny. In short, it is argued that despite its laudable intentions, much special education practice with respect to bilingualism is fundamentally misdirected. Concrete suggestions are made both for changing the structure of special education services for bilingual (and monolingual) students and for instituting more appropriate assessment and pedagogical practices." (Book Cover)