Psyrhology
in
the
Schools
Yolump
22,
July
1985
COMPARISON OF THE K-ABC AND PPVT-R
WITH HEAD START CHILDREN
SALLY
B. BING
University
of
Maryland Eastern Shore
JOHN
R.
BING
Salisbury State College
The relationship between the new Kaufman Assessment Battery
for
Children (K-
ABC) and the Revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R) Forms
L
and
M
was explored
for
a sample
of
30
predominantly black Head Start children. The highest
correlations occurred between the K-ABC Achievement Scale and the PPVT-R. The
K-ABC Expressive Vocabulary subtest correlated moderately highly with PPVT-R
Form
L,
while the K-ABC Riddles subtest correlated moderately highly with PPVT-
R Form
M.
Mean standard scores
for
the K-ABC Scales and subtests ranged from
11
to
20
points higher than those obtained on the PPVT-R. It would not appear redun-
dant to administer the PPVT-R in addition to the K-ABC when one needs a receptive
vocabulary measure.
The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) (Kaufman
&
Kaufman,
1983)
is a new assessment instrument that may take its place along side the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and the Stanford-Binet as one of the leading in-
dividualized intelligence measures.
It
includes a battery of
16
subtests that assess both
mental processing (intellectual functioning) and achievement.
The K-ABC, developed for children
2%
to
12%
years of age, consists of four global
scales. Two scales, Sequential Processing and Simultaneous Processing, make up the
Mental Processing Composite. The Sequential Processing Scale requires the child to
solve problems involving serial or temporal ordering of stimuli. Subtests included in this
scale are:
Hand Movements, Number Recall, and Word Order. The Simultaneous
Processing Scale, which requires the child to integrate and synthesize input in order to
solve problems that are analogic, organizational,
or
spatial
in
nature (Kaufman
&
Kauf-
man,
1983,
p.30), includes seven subtests: Magic Window, Face Recognition, Gestalt
Closure, Triangles, Matrix Analogies, Spatial Memory, and Photo Series. The Achieve-
ment Scale, designed to assess factual knowledge and skills, includes six subtests:
Ex-
pressive Vocabulary, Faces
&
Places, Arithmetic, Riddles, Reading/Decoding, and
Reading/Understanding. The number of subtests actually administered depends upon
the age of the child.
Since the K-ABC is a new test, research conducted on the relationship between the
test and other assessment measures
is
just beginning to appear (Murray
&
Bracken,
1984;
Naglieri,
1983;
Naglieri
&
Kamphaus,
1983;
Zins
&
Barnett,
1983, 1984).
Several studies have looked at the relationship of the K-ABC to measures of in-
telligence. Zins and Barnett
(1984)
investigated the relationship of the K-ABC to the
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and the Stanford-Binet, using
“neighborhood” children who were not receiving special education services. Inter-
correlations between the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite and the two intelligence
measures were moderately high (WISC-R FS=.70; Binet=
.61),
suggesting that the
K-
ABC can be used as a measure of intelligence. The K-ABC Mental Processing Com-
posite score was significantly lower than the WISC-R Full Scale
IQ
(~3.36,
p<.Ol)
and
also slightly lower than the Stanford-Binet
IQ
score. Similar differences were found
Requests
for
reprints should be addressed to Sally B. Bing, Dept.
of
Education, University
of
Maryland
Eastern Shore, Princess Anne,
MD
21853.
245