Research in Rural Education. Volume 3. Number 2. 1985 The Influence of Rural vs, Non-Rural Background and Setting Variables on Psychoeducational Expectations

This study investigated the effects of rural vs. non-rural background and setting variables upon 383 school psychologists ' ex-pectations for a case study child. The results indicated that school psychologists ' expectations were not influenced by the child's background or school setting. However, school psychologists who worked in rural school settings had higher future academic and vocational expectancies for the case study child in general than urban school psychologists. Nonbiased assessment has become an increasingly im-portant issue among educators and related professionals [15). Although the original concerns focused on bias in standardized tests, a recent concern has been for the decision-makingprocess that precedesand follows the ad-ministration of tests. For example, Bailey and Harbin [2) have delineated five steps in the assessment process dur-ing which bias can operate, including the development of prognostic expectations, which occurs after the ad-ministration of tests. Such expectations are especiallyim-portant as they have been related to student achievemen