Does cultural background influence the intellectual performance of children from immigrant groups?

This paper addresses both the construct validity and the criterion-related validity of the "Revisie Amsterdamse Kinder Intelligentie Test" (RAKIT), which is a cognitive ability test developed for primary school children. The present study compared immigrant primary school children (N = 559) and Dutch children (N = 604). The mean scores of Surinamese/Netherlands Antillean, Moroccan, and Turkish children differed from each other and were lower than those of the Dutch children. Comparison of the test dimensions showed that group differences with respect to the construct validity were small. We found some item bias, but the combined effects on the sum score were not large. The estimate of general intelligence (g) as computed with the RAKIT showed strong predictive validity for most school subjects and standardized achievement tests. Although some criteria revealed significant prediction bias, the effects were very small. Most of the analyses we performed on differences in test scores and differences in criterion scores supported Spearman's hypothesis that g is the predominant factor determining the size of the differences between two groups. The conclusion that the RAKIT can be used for the assessment of groups from various backgrounds seems warranted

A Regulatory Framework for Foodstuffs in the Internal Market. Report on the Conference (6-7 May 1993)

Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in 2020

Dynamic testing and transfer: An examination of children's problem-solving strategies

This study examined the problem-solving behaviour of 104 children (aged 7–8 years) when tackling construction-analogy tasks. Children were allocated to one of two conditions: either a form of unguided practice alone or this in combination with training based on graduated prompt techniques. Children's ability to solve figural open-ended analogy-problems was investigated as well as their ability to construct new analogy problems themselves. We examined children's progression in solving analogy problems and the variability in their strategy-use. Results showed that the group that received training made greater progress in solving analogy problems than children who only received unguided practice opportunities. However, the training appeared to give no additional improvement in performance on the transfer task over that of repeated unguided practice alone. Findings from this study demonstrate that an open construction task can provide additional information about children's cognitive learning potential

Het meten van de cognitieve mogelijkheden en het schoolgedrag van allochtone kinderen

The auhtors discuss the difficulties encoutered when testing children from an ethnic minority background. Several often used instruments are discussed and alternative measures of cognitive abilities and school behaviour are presented

Teachers' preferences for educational planning: Dynamic testing, teaching' experience and teachers' sense of efficacy

This study surveyed a sample of 188 elementary teachers with respect to their preference for information regarding educational planning, in particular information captured with dynamic testing procedures. The influence of teachers' experience and sense of efficacy on teachers' preferences was also investigated. Results indicated teachers' preferences for dynamically gathered information regarding children's learning processes, next to standard information such as a diagnosis. Appreciation for dynamic testing information appeared to be relatively higher for those teachers with longer teaching experience, but not related to teachers' sense of efficacy. Findings are discussed with regard to their implications for both diagnostic and teaching practices