COMPARISON OF THE KAUFMAN ASSESSMENT BATTERY AND THE WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALES FOR LEARNING DISABLED BLACK AND WHITE CHILDREN. \jy

This study examined the performance of black and white learning disabled South African children on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children Revised and Third Edition (WISCRAA/ISC-III). The K-ABC and WISC-RAA/ISC-III were administered to 34 white children and 21 black children aged 6 to 11 years (mean 7-9 years) at private remedial schools. The mean WiSC-R/WISC-lll Full Scale IQ for blacks was 84.19 (SD = 7.41) which was significantly lower than the mean Full Scale IQ for whites which was 93.97 (SD = 11.13). The difference between their scores on the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite was not significant. For the black sample, the WiSCR/WISC-li! Full Scale IQ was significantly lower then the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite (f= 6.9, p<.001). Additionally, the performance of the black sample on the Verbal subscale of the WISC-R/WISC-III, as well as their scores on various subtests th?' constitute the acquired learning cluster (Vocabulary and Information), were found to be significantly lower than those of the white sample. A qualitative examination of teachers’ ratings of intellectual potential suggested that the K-ABC is a more equitable measure of intelligence for black South African children. The results supported the utility of the K-ABC as a non-discriminatory instrument which may be a viable alternative to the WISC-R/WISC-III for South African children.