A Policy Statement on Assessment Procedures and the Rights of Children

Abstract

The author discusses the findings of an eight-year study in which she explored school and agency classification procedures for children based on standardized intelligence tests. Mercer discovered that in the American city she investigated,such procedures resulted in labeling as mentally retarded a disproportionately large number of Chicanos and Blacks. She argues that current classification procedures violate the rights of children to be evaluated within a culturally appropriate normative framework, their right to be assessed as multi-dimensional beings,their right to be fully educated, their right to be free of stigmatizing labels,and their right to cultural identity and respect. Mercer proposes supplementary evaluations which assess an individual's competencies outside of school and suggests that only children scoring in the lowest three percent on standardized IQ tests and adaptive behavior evaluations should be placed in classes for the mentally retarded.