113
(1979) concluded that
... if our committee were evaluating these six
[fivecorrection] tests based on standards
commonly accepted in our profession (e.g. standards
for Educational and Psychological tests), all would
be judged inadequate by these standards and therefore
the committee would be unable to recommend the
unqualified use of any of these measures, (p. 4)
Both the LAB and LAS were among the five tests reviewed by this
committee. It appears that recent research with the LAS (De Avila &
Duncan, 1981, 1982) have corrected some of the shortcomings indicated
by the committee.
The lack of apparently well constructed language assessment instru
ments is a serious limitation in this research. However, the instruments
used, especially the last two, are currently widely used in the U.S.
to make important decisions regarding students' placement and progress.
Data Analysis
As initial participant data were collected, all participants were
assigned a research code number including age, sex, grade, sequential
order of participation, and last grade attended in Cuba. Data were
analyzed by grade, sex, and age. Correlations were performed between
data collected with different instruments, between subtests using the
same forms, and between different languages on different forms of the
same instruments. The written language samples were collected and
analyzed together with other written language measures.
Scores were collapsed to form components, oral and written
language scores, and overall or total language scores in English and
Spanish. Correlations were performed between the components and