A concurrent validation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children with learning disabled Anglo and Hispanic children.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the concurrent validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with the Wechsler Intelligence Battery for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The study postulated that ethnicity would be a significant factor in the performance of learning disabled, Anglo and Hispanic students on the K-ABC compared with the WISC-R. Subjects were 33 Anglo and 34 Hispanic students ranging in age from 5 though 12. All students in the study were certified learning disabled and were administered the K-ABC and the WISC-R within one calendar year. Three null hypotheses were tested: (1) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Verbal and K-ABC Sequential IQs (Intelligence Quotients), (2) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Performance and the K-ABC Simultaneous IQs, and (3) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Full Scale and the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite Test IQs. The K-ABC was found to be concurrently valid based on the WISC-R. The range of correlations between the K-ABC and the WISC-R coincided with that necessary to establish a significant positive correlation. The WISC-R Full scale IQ scores for both Anglos and Hispanics correlated with the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite IQ (r =.57, p.05). The WISC-R Verbal scale scores for Anglos and Hispanics correlated (r =.55) with the K-ABC Sequential scale. Anglo and Hispanic scores on the WISC-R Performance scale correlated (r =.75) with the K-ABC. Ethnicity was not found to be a factor in low Hispanic test performance. The results showed no significant difference between the performance of Anglos and Hispanics. Comparisons were also made between the WISC-R and K-ABC performance of Anglos and Hispanics as a function of age, sex, grade and socioeconomic status (SES). Significant differences were found as a function of SES on both the WISC-R Full and Performance scales. Specifically, the higher the SES, the higher the Full and Performance scale IQs. On the K-ABC, SES and grade positively correlated with scores on all three scales. Sex was also positively related to Sequential scale scores with girls scoring slightly higher than boys.