Bio-ecological approach to cognitive assessment.

Because determining a child's educational program usually takes into consideration the child's cognitive functioning, it is vital that those who are involved in this enterprise recognize that many variables contribute to and explain performance. Thus, careful consideration, assessment, and planning are mandatory to plan a child's individual educational program. This article emphasizes that cognitive assessment is both a formal and an informal process that occurs in several contexts-the school, the home, and the community. Therefore, when psychological evaluators assess the cognitive performance of a child, it is necessary to analyze the complete of his or her social/emotional environments that have contributed to his/her current cognitive performance levels. Thus, it is vital to examine the orientation of family members, the academic assistance students receive at home, as well as the current and previous classroom environments in which the student has been educated. Six nonpsychometric measures (using item equivalency, test-teach-retest, and contextualization) were developed by the authors and are presented in recognition that there are many factors that one must consider when interpreting the performance of a child.