Jim MacAvoy, Ed.D. Craig Sidles, Ph.D.

The assessment of learning difficulties with Navajo children poses a special challenge to the school psychologist working with students in reservation schools. Studies indicate that many American' Indian children begin school at an academic disadvantage and evidence progressive delays as they advance through their elementary grades (Smith, 1968; Weinberg, 1977). Smith reports that teacher concerns regarding Indian students' poor attention and inability to follow directions could be interpreted as symptoms associated with a perceptual disorder. In most cases, these student characteristics reflect the presence of a bilingual factor as opposed to an actual language processing disorder. Research conducted in the area of second language learning and academic functioning suggests there is no apparent connection between bilingualism and lower general intelligence (Spolsky and Cooper, 1977). There does, however, appear to be a correlation between bilingualism and lower verbal scores and academic performance. Difficulties in these areas appear to be related to limited English vocabulary and a lack of knowledge regarding verbal concepts and grammatical structure (McLaughlin, 1977). In support of this hypothesis, Mickelson and Galloway (1973) found that American Indian children enter school with deficient verbal concept ability. This finding was based on those students' performance on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts. Additional research reflects typical Verbal-Performance discrepancies of 25-30 points recorded for Navajo students on the WISC-R (McShane & Plas, 1984).

In the absence of necessary support programs, many underachieving American Indian children are considered for special education placement (Giordano, 1978). McShane (1979) reports that Indian students referred for special education received a narrower range of test instruments than non-Indians and that cultural factors were not taken into account in assessment findings. Misinterpretation of achievement deficits and intellectual score profiles by diagnosticians has led to a disproportionate number of minority children being placed in special education programs (Reschly, 1983). Such placements have been successfully challenged and reversed in court. Landmark litigation such as the Diana, Larry P., and Guadalupe v. Tempe cases resulted in consent decrees containing conditions for primary language determination, use of nonverbal measures and multiple test batteries, and the development of language and culturally specific tests of ability (Reschly, 1979). These cases reflect an increasing awareness on the part of minority groups regarding their educational rights as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

When working with American Indian students, one of the difficult tasks facing the school psychologist is making the differential diagnosis between a child with an actual learning disability and one whose academic difficulties stem from bilingual and bicultural factors (Smith, 1980). One of the ways the psychoeducational evaluation process addresses this distinction is through comparisons of a student's ability and achievement (Sattler, 1988). In documenting a learning handicap, another important evaluation component involves the assessment of perceptual processes (Hynd, 1983). These evaluation methods were incorporated in Sabatino's study (1972). Sabatino, Hayden and Kelling found that Navajo students referred for special education typically displayed ability-achievement discrepancies. Unlike their (Anglo student) counterparts in this study, their problems were found to result from bilingual factors as opposed to perceptual problems or intellectual deficits. Sabatino, et al, recommended regular classroom solutions for Navajo students such as early English emergence as opposed to inappropriate placement in special education programs.

An area of cognitive processing commonly included in perceptual assessment is auditory memory. Research has shown that Indian children typically perform significantly below age expectations on verbal memory tests but attain average and above levels on visual recall measures (Kirk, 1972). Wieczkiewicz (1979) relates their lower performance to the unfamiliarity of verbal stimulus commonly contained in auditory memory tests. This language factor, in turn, was noted to inhibit the Indian student's use of rehearsal; a mnemonic strategy which is critical to the storage of auditory information. As in the case of intelligence testing, Indian students appear to be at a significant disadvantage when faced with auditory memory assessment in their secondary language. Despite the consent decrees resulting from related litigation, no language specific auditory memory tests have been developed or normed for American Indian students.

Another confounding factor involves the use of single presentation memory measures. Many of the memory tests developed for school psychologists fall in this category and involve the single presentation of a memory stimulus. Regardless of whether the stimulus is successfully recalled or not, a new stimulus is presented. As such, there is no opportunity for exposure to the same information over trials. Speaking from a neuropsychological perspective, Lezak (1976) states that "at a minimum, the memory examination should cover span of immediate memory, addition of new information to recent memory, extent of recent memory, and capacity for learning" (p. 345). In her review of various memory measures, Lezak points out that single presentation measures such as the digit span and memory for sentences tests are limited to the assessment of immediate memory. Mungas (1983) found that the WAIS Digit Span test was not differentially sensitive in assessing the recall capabilities of patients with and without amnestic disorders. In contrast, the use of a multitrial memory test enabled this distinction to be made. Mungas' study is an example of limitations inherent in single presentation memory measures. It would appear that auditory memory assessment practices commonly used by school psycho