Aimed at educators and psychologists working with bilingual youth, this book addresses a wide range of issues surrounding the diagnosis of learning disabilities and psychological issues in bilingual students. By way of introduction, Elisabeth O'Bryon gives an overview of challenges involved in assessing bilingual children, noting they are a hugely diverse group with equally diverse sets of personal circumstances. Ways in which factors like country of origin, age of acquisition, literacy and acculturation levels, and other factors can have significant effects on students’ success are examined.

From here the book is divided into three parts, the first of which looks at effects of cross-language transfer from neuroscience and cognitive psychology perspectives. Yanling Zhou, Xiuhong Tong, Jianhong Mo, & Catherine McBride-Chang introduce ideas of cross-language transfer in chapter 2, noting that transfer may be bidirectional. In chapter 3, Rachel W. Robillard examines neuropsychological data in bilingual assessment. Focusing on the neurological differences between bilingual and monolingual brains, she suggests bilinguals may be at a disadvantage in performance on verbal tasks, but at an advantage in inhibitory control tasks. Examining the effects of semilingualism in chapter 4, Amanda B. Clinton, Wanda R. Ortiz, & Korah La Serna Guilar recommend dynamic assessment, where examiner-examinee interaction allows students an opportunity to display partially developed knowledge.

Part 2 explores practical implications of bilingualism on assessment. In chapter 5, Pedro Olvera & Lino Gómez-Cerrillo highlight bilingualism's effects on academic achievement and the need ‘to account for cultural and intellectual manifestations of bilingualism’ (p. 112). They recommend an integrated approach to testing bilingual students, considering results from several types of testing. Catherine Christo, Erin Crosby, & Michelle Zozaya note in chapter 6 that while testing bilingual children in their L1 may be more appropriate, assessment tools in languages other than English can be expensive and difficult to access. They recommend the response-to-intervention approach, which allows early identification of difficulties, lessening their ongoing impact. Michael R. Hass & Kelly S. Kennedy argue in chapter 7 that assessment of social, emotional, and behavioural functioning should be framed as an assessment of mental health. They suggest a ‘rule of two’ approach, gathering information from at least two settings, informants, and assessment methods, providing comprehensive assessment.

Part 3 explores ways of integrating new concepts into bilingual assessment. Chapter 8, by Patricio A. Romero & Jennifer Branscome, addresses effects acculturation can have on bilingual children's educational development, noting that academic performance may belie acculturative stress. In chapter 9, Jill Fitzgerald, Carol B. Olsen, Sandra G. Garcia, & Robin C. Scarcella examine challenges in assessing bilingual students’ writing; and challenges surrounding assessment of reading skills are addressed by Sharolyn D. Pollard-Durodola, Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, & Fuhui Tong in chapter 10, including orthographic and phonological awareness. Finally, in chapter 11, Karen Lee Seymour considers refugee migrant children, whose particular circumstances add additional assessment challenges, including the long-term psychological effects of trauma.

This book will be a valuable resource for anyone researching or working with bilingual children in education, and provides many useful tools aimed at improving assessment of these potentially vulnerable students.