CONGRUENCE OF TEST-BEHAVIOR DIMENSIONS AMONG CHILD GROUPS THAT VARY IN GENDER, RACE-ETHNICITY, AND SES

The possibility of construct bias was investigated with the Guide to t he Assessment of Test Session Behavior for the WISC-III and WIAT (GATS B). Specifically, the study examined whether the three constructs meas ured by the GATSB (i.e., Avoidance, Inattentiveness, and Uncooperative Mood) share the same factor structure across demographic groups that vary in gender, race-ethnicity (Angle, African-American, Hispanic), an d SES (high, middle, low). Children (N = 969) ranged between the ages of 6 and 16 years and comprised the GATSB's standardization and validi ty-study samples. Coefficients of factorial congruence/similarity were sufficiently high to warrant the conclusion that the GATSB's three co nstructs are comparable (i.e., share the same factor structure) for ch ildren who differ by gender, race-ethnicity, and SES. The current find ings align with previous bias studies conducted with the GATSB (Glutti ng, Oakland, and Konold, 1994; Nandakumar, Glutting, and Oakland, 1993 ) and indicate that Angle examiners can place considerable confidence in using this instrument to measure the test-taking behaviors of child ren who differ by gender and SES as well as those who are Angle, Afric an-American, and Hispanic.