Diagnosis and Administrative Interventions for Students with Mental Retardation in Australia, France, United States, and Zimbabwe 98 Years After Binet's First Intelligence Test

The year 2004 marks the 100-year anniversary of the first successful effort to developa test of intelligence that became widely used, in part, to assess mental retardation.This article summarizes some prevailing policies and practices important to the assessmentof the mental retardation in Australia, France, the United States, and Zimbabwe,Intemational standards for the diagnosis and classification of mental disorders,including mental retardation, are identified. Cross-national similarities anddifferences are identified, and implications for test development are discussed.