REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF TEST BIAS IN THE RAVEN'S PROGRESSIVE MATRICES FOR ANGLOS AND MEXICAN-AMERICANS.

Test bias is a current focus of concern in both education and psychology. No where are the polemics of test bias stronger than in the area of ethnic/racial group differences on measures of intellectual functioning. Th problem of test bias is exacerbated when verbal intelligence tests are administered to students in a language in which they have limited facility and/or cultural reference. This problem is most evident in the United States with Hispanics. This study was designed to evaluate the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) as a measure of non-biased assessment for Mexican-Americans. The RPM was selected because it is a non-verbal intelligence measure. The subjects were 230 Anglo and 230 Mexican-American elementary school children from Douglas, Arizona. The data were evaluated by analysis of regression with the Total Reading and Total Math scores of the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT). Both groups were analyzed together to identify any significant slope or intercept differences. All regression analyses were by grade level. Group validity coefficients were also computed for both math and reading by grade level and across grade level. The results of regression analysis indicated no test bias against Mexican-Americans. Slopes were equal at all grade levels. Some intercept variance occurred which would result in bias against Anglos, rather than Mexican-Anericans, if common regression lines were used. Also, validity coefficients of academic prediction for the RPM compared favorably to coefficients of the WISC-R Performance Scale for Mexican-Americans. Limitations of the study and areas of further research are discussed