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The article examines the content, authorship, and types of articles published in School Psychology Review for the past 10 years. Results suggest that the journal publishes research and review artic...

Potential limitations in assessment practices with children who have severe mental retardation have been identified in the literature. The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which practicing school psychologists use alternative methods as opposed to standardized/norm-referenced measures in the assessment of children suspected or identified as having moderate to severe/profound mental retardation. As part of a larger survey, assessment practices of school psychologists with children functioning in the more severe level of mental retardation were reported by 202 school psychologists. Results suggest that school psychologists use norm-referenced measures at all grade/age levels. Various other types of methods were also noted by 0.5 to 35.8% of the respondents, with the highest frequency of alternative approaches employed at the preschool level. Implications for assessment practices with children with moderate to severe/profound mental retardation and for the training of school psychologists in alternative methods of evaluation consistent with the need to link assessment to intervention are discussed.

An important area of inquiry in the assessment of intelligence lies in the area of giftedness. If proper educational decisions are to be made for children referred for gifted services, it is imperative that educational and psychological service providers understand factors influencing the response patterns of children with high levels of academic aptitude. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate four models of intellectual abilities using confirmatory factor analytic methods and data obtained on a sample of 197 children referred for services in an experimental gifted program. Although all four models provided results indicative of a plausible fit, a model posited on a revised version of Horn and Cattell's theory of fluid-crystallized abilities provided the broadest understanding of the cognitive functioning of children referred for gifted services.

The records of 979 preschool children were used to determine if differences in early childhood development can be accounted for by differences in performance on three measures of the Early Screening Profiles. A 2 × 2 × 3 (Race × Gender × Maternal education) MANOVA design was used for analysis with Cognitive/Language, Self-Help/Social, and Motor Profile standard scores as the three dependent variables. No statistically significant multivariate three-way or two-way interactions were observed. Univariate follow-ups to statistically significant main effects for race and maternal education that yielded statistically significant F values (a = .01) produced the following: (a) children classified as white scored significantly higher than children classified as black on both the Cognitive and Motor Profiles; (b) children for whom mothers reported high or medium levels of formal education scored higher than children for whom mothers reported low levels of formal education on the Cognitive Profile; and (c) children for whom mothers reported medium levels of formal education scored significantly higher than children for whom mothers reported low levels of formal education on the Motor Profile.

A survey of test usage for adult assessment was responded to by 402 professionals. Based on the responses of 313 individuals who assess adults, the following instruments were the most popular in each domain: WAIS-R or WAIS (intelligence), WRAT-R or WRAT (achievement), MMPI (personality), Vineland (adaptive behavior), and Strong-Campbell (vocational interest). There was a tendency for the most popular instruments to be seen as providing the information of greatest importance, although Draw-A-Person was a clear exception to that finding. Other questions in the survey explored the respondents! perceptions of the strong and weak aspects of intelligence tests, the purposes for which intelligence tests are used, and the domains that are in greatest need of new instruments.

Although extrapolated IQs are available for Wechsler's intelligence scales, extrapolated values for the General Cognitive Index of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities have not been presented. This study derived regression equations from the normative sample data and computed estimated composite raw scores corresponding to the indexes above 150 and below 50. Extrapolated values are useful for estimating a child's present level of functioning; however, because extrapolated values are not based on empirical data, they should be viewed as estimates and used with caution.

In recent years, a great deal of research concerning adaptive behavior scales has been conducted. This article reviews adaptive behavior research in the following areas: the relationship between adaptive behavior and intelligence and school achievement, the relationship between different measures of adaptive behavior, predictive aspects, declassification, group differences in adaptive behavior, the relationship between parents' and teachers' ratings, factorial dimensions, the effects of training and intervention, and stability and interrater reliability.