Psychology
in
the Schools
Volume
32.
January 1995
THE UTILITY OF THE KAUFMAN ASSESSMENT BATTERY FOR CHILDREN
(K-ABC) AND THE WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALES FOR
LINGUISTICALLY DIFFERENT CHILDREN: CLINICAL CONSIDERATIONS
ROSEMARY
FLANAGAN
Baldwin Union Free School District
and
St.
John’s University
Little literature addresses the difficulty of conducting an unbiased assessment of
youngsters whose second language is English but who are conversational in English
and no longer qualify for English as a Second Language services. Academic difficulty
frequently persists, although the children appear functional in English. The use of
the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) is discussed in relation to
the Wechsler Intelligence Scale as
a
second measure of cognitive ability
for
youngsters
of
various linguistic backgrounds. In the cases presented, the use of the K-ABC il-
lustrated that the youngsters had higher cognitive ability than was measured by the
Wechsler Intelligence Scale
for
Children-Revised (WISC-R), which in turn guided
educational decisions. Additionally, the utility
of
the K-ABC for assessing youngsters
from linguistic backgrounds that may not be adequately represented in the norm sample
is
suggested. Implications for school psychology practice are discussed.
School psychologists evaluate youngsters whose cognitive abilities may not be ade-
quately measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (e.g., Wechsler,
1974, 1991)
because
their English proficiency is weak; these youngsters are at points along the Limited English
Proficiency (LEP) continuum. This evaluation may be deceptive because such youngsters
have conversational English, no longer display obvious signs that they are not native
speakers
of
English, no longer meet the criteria for English as a Second Language (ESL)
services, but continue
to
evidence linguistic deficiencies (Figueroa,
1990)
and are often
referred for Special Education evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to suggest an
alternative evaluation method that may be helpful in some instances.
It is unlikely that the cognitive abilities
of
such youngsters are fairly evaluated in
English; rather, English language cognitive measures evaluate potential to succeed in
English language instruction. Despite criticism suggesting cultural bias in IQ tests
(APA,
1993)
and the frequent unavailability
of
norms for the population tested, testing still
occurs to determine educational disability status and to make recommendations. Cultural
bias is subtle (Costantino,
1992)
and may exist when there is no statistical bias. The
common measures
of
cognitive ability are not biased when statistical definitions
of
bias
are employed (Jensen,
1974;
Sattler,
1988).
There is a need for accurate assessment and appropriate services to this popula-
tion. There is disagreement in the field regarding appropriate practice (for example,
Costantino,
1992;
McNicol,
1993;
Sattler,
1988),
and practitioners can be expected to
vary in their assessment practices based upon training and experience. The technology
to evaluate these youngsters is flawed at best (Figueroa,
1990),
limiting school
psychologists to assessing how a youngster compares with racially, linguistically, and/or
culturally dissimilar others in the normative sample as opposed to stating a functional
level. Although this is useful information, it is not often helpful in the determination
of
educational disability status.
Appreciation is expressed to Irwin Flescher and David Krenitsky for their comments.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Rosemary Flanagan, Psychology Department, St. John’s Univer-
sity,
8000
Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, New York 11439.
5
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