ETHNIC VALIDITY AND SCHOOL-PSYCHOLOGY - CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES ASSOCIATED WITH CROSS-CULTURAL PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

Many questions have been raised concerning school psychology services for children of diverse ethnic groups. Fundamentally these have relate d to problem identification, acceptability of interventions, the effic acy of special programs and interventions, and the preparation of prof essionals to deal with the complexities of multicultural and cross-cul tural practice. The construct ethnic validity, as an extension and app lication of social validity, holds promise for devising ways to addres s these questions. Within the context of a problem-solving model, ethn ic validity is linked to judgments by culturally representative member s of the local community in regard to the appropriateness of goals, in tervention processes, and outcomes. This article reviews models of eth nic validity and examines the possible contributions of ethnic validit y to school psychology practice, training, and research.