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The usefulness of commercially available ‘culture fair' tests in the assessment of educational success in Grade 1 Black pupils in South Africa – an explorative study
Abstract
School failure among Grade 1 pupils and the subsequent drop
out rate is of major concern in South Africa, especially as far as Black
pupils are concerned. The school drop out rate is estimated to be four times
higher in Black pupils than White children. The dilemma for the professionals
in assessing children, who are experiencing difficulty at school, and who
are from disadvantaged, non-English speaking communities, is the paucity
of reliable, objective tests to identify children at risk. The purpose of
this study was to determine whether commercially available ‘culture fair' tests
could be used to evaluate Black pupils early in Grade 1 and if they were
associated with educational success. A parental questionnaire was used to
examine non-academic predictors of educational success, such as birth history,
socio-economic status and the medical profile.
One hundred and three Grade 1 pupils were tested in the first
term. The tests used were the Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales, WISC
mazes, Raven's Progressive Matrices, Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration
(VMI), Motor-free Visual Perceptual Test (MVPT), Test of Visual Perceptual
Skills (TVPS) and the Draw-a-Person Test (DAP). Several backward elimination
stepwise regression analysis procedures were used to examine the multivariate
associations between the psychometric and non-academic variables and three
outcome variables, namely the mid and end of year aggregates and a pass/fail
dichotomous variable.
Non-academic variables that were significantly associated with
academic success were asphyxia, overcrowding and maternal education. The
psychometric subtests that were significantly associated with academic achievement
were the VMI, DAP, the Raven's Progressive Matrices, TVPS and WISC mazes.
Commercially available ‘culture fair' tests are significantly
associated with educational success in Black Grade 1 pupils where standardised,
comprehensive tests are not available. To evaluate to what extent these tests
would be reliable predictors of educational success further studies would
have to analyse a larger cohort of pupils.
Journal of Child and
Adolescent Mental Health 2003, 15(1): 33-37
out rate is of major concern in South Africa, especially as far as Black
pupils are concerned. The school drop out rate is estimated to be four times
higher in Black pupils than White children. The dilemma for the professionals
in assessing children, who are experiencing difficulty at school, and who
are from disadvantaged, non-English speaking communities, is the paucity
of reliable, objective tests to identify children at risk. The purpose of
this study was to determine whether commercially available ‘culture fair' tests
could be used to evaluate Black pupils early in Grade 1 and if they were
associated with educational success. A parental questionnaire was used to
examine non-academic predictors of educational success, such as birth history,
socio-economic status and the medical profile.
One hundred and three Grade 1 pupils were tested in the first
term. The tests used were the Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales, WISC
mazes, Raven's Progressive Matrices, Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration
(VMI), Motor-free Visual Perceptual Test (MVPT), Test of Visual Perceptual
Skills (TVPS) and the Draw-a-Person Test (DAP). Several backward elimination
stepwise regression analysis procedures were used to examine the multivariate
associations between the psychometric and non-academic variables and three
outcome variables, namely the mid and end of year aggregates and a pass/fail
dichotomous variable.
Non-academic variables that were significantly associated with
academic success were asphyxia, overcrowding and maternal education. The
psychometric subtests that were significantly associated with academic achievement
were the VMI, DAP, the Raven's Progressive Matrices, TVPS and WISC mazes.
Commercially available ‘culture fair' tests are significantly
associated with educational success in Black Grade 1 pupils where standardised,
comprehensive tests are not available. To evaluate to what extent these tests
would be reliable predictors of educational success further studies would
have to analyse a larger cohort of pupils.
Journal of Child and
Adolescent Mental Health 2003, 15(1): 33-37
