This Digest discusses cultural influences that may lead to the inappropriate diagnosis of a young student as developmentally delayed, and the need to use assessment instruments that are appropriate for use with culturally and linguistically diverse families. In order to determine the appropriateness of norm-referenced instruments for children from diverse backgrounds, professionals are urged to ask themselves the following questions: (1) Were the norms inclusive of the diversity of families found in the communities across the United States with which the tool will be applied? (2) Did these "diverse" children also represent variations that typify the communities in which the tool will be applied? (3) Does the tool or process include provisions to conduct the assessment in the child's dominant language? and (4) Will specially trained personnel familiar with the family's culture, practices, and beliefs conduct the assessment? Professionals are also warned to recognize that the domains of development and the items subsumed in each area, are predominately reflective of a Western approach to the discussion and examination of early childhood development and may contradict a more holistic, functional, situational approach common in other cultural groups. (CR)