Judgments of Item Bias in the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities

Abstract

The study investigated cultural bias in the 46 verbal items of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA). Using the criteria of examinee opportunity to learn item content and examinee familiarity with the language used, 50 Anglo and 50 Mexican American judges rated all items of the MSCA Verbal Scale. The obtained ratings of item bias were analyzed with the chi-square statistic. Results showed significant differences in the two groups' rating of 16 items on the opportunity to learn dimension. A high degree of agreement between the two groups was noted in the ratings on the familiarity dimension; both groups indicated that Anglo subjects would have more familiarity with item language for most of the items. Significant differences, however, in ratings of Anglo and Mexican American judges were identified for four items. There was no discernible pattern of judgment in terms of item difficulty as ratings appeared to be more related to item content than to level of difficulty.