Application of the Cross Battery Approach in the assessment of American Indian children: a viable alternative.

This article examines current psychometric and testing practices that appear to do a limited job of assessing the intelligence of American Indian individuals. For several reasons, contemporary approaches are found to be inadequate. Unfortunately, these practices are then employed in making educational decisions and placing these same children into Special Education programs. Alternative methods of testing, including the Gf-Gc Cross-Battery Approach, are discussed and evaluated in terms of usefulness in the evaluation of American Indian children and adolescents. The cross-battery method of testing was found to provide more in-depth procedures for bypassing both language and cultural differences among American Indian individuals.