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Purpose: In this study, the authors evaluated the contribution made by dialect shifting to reading achievement test scores of African American English (AAE)-speaking students when controlling for the effects of socioeconomic status (SES), general oral language abilities, and writing skills. Method: Participants were 165 typically developing African American 1st through 5th graders. Half were male and half were female, one third were from low-SES homes, and two-thirds were from middle-SES homes. Dialect shifting away from AAE toward Standard American English (SAE) was determined by comparing AAE production rates during oral and written narratives. Structural equation modeling evaluated the relative contributions of AAE rates, SES, and general oral language and writing skills on standardized reading achievement scores. Results: AAE production rates were inversely related to reading achievement scores and decreased significantly between the oral and written narratives. Lower rates in writing predicted a substantial amount of the variance in reading scores, showing a significant direct effect and a significant indirect effect mediated by measures of oral language comprehension. Conclusion: The findings support a dialect shifting-reading achievement hypothesis, which proposes that AAE-speaking students who learn to use SAE in literacy tasks will outperform their peers who do not make this linguistic adaptation. (Contains 8 tables, 2 figures and 2 footnotes.)

The authors examined how 12 Estonian-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 60 children with normal speech development (ND) comprehended compound nouns with differing sequence of the components (first task) and how they produced compound nouns to label genuine and accidental categories by using analogy (second task) and sentence transformation (third task). The results demonstrated that children with SLI were capable of producing compound nouns for genuine categories, but avoided production of compounds to label objects in temporary juxtapositions. However, by comparison with the control group, SLI children differed statistically significantly in terms of both the number of correct answers and the pattern of mistakes. In the cases when compound nouns were expected to be produced by transforming sentences, the results of SLI children were considerably lower than those of their peers. The results of this study support the idea that children with SLI experience difficulties related to processing linguistic information. (Contains 5 tables.)

Objective: To address the issue of response time (RT) profiles in hyperactive-impulsive (ADHD-HI), inattentive (ADHD-IA), and combined (ADHD-C) subtypes of ADHD. We hypothesized that children with ADHD-HI should respond more rapidly than children without ADHD and children with ADHD-IA and ADHD-C should respond more slowly than children without ADHD. Method: Four groups (3 ADHD groups and 1 non-ADHD group) each composed of 16 children (7-13 years old) performed a visuospatial choice task. Results: ANOVA indicated very variable RTs for each ADHD subtype when controlling for individual RT. ANOVA performed on RT distribution showed significant differences between the ADHD and non-ADHD groups: biased to fast responses in ADHD-HI and biased to slow responses in ADHD-IA and ADHD-C. Conclusion: The results suggest that response time profiles were abnormal in all ADHD subtypes and were markedly different between children meeting criteria for ADHD-HI and those meeting criteria for ADHD-IA or ADHD-C. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

This study investigated the role of cognitive and language skills as predictors of early literacy skills in children with Specific Language Impairment. A range of cognitive and linguistic skills were assessed in a sample of 137 eight-year-old children with SLI at the beginning of the school year, and 6 months later on word decoding and reading comprehension. The cognitive and linguistic measures revealed four factors that were called "language," "speech," "short-term memory," and "phonological awareness." Structural equation modeling showed word decoding to be predicted by speech, short-term memory, and phonological awareness, whereas reading comprehension was predicted by word decoding skills and short-term memory. It can be concluded that in children with SLI variations in early word decoding are mostly determined by speech abilities and short-term memory, and to a lesser extent by phonological awareness. Moreover, reading comprehension turns out to be highly dependent on word decoding and short-term memory. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)

To address the specific impairment of imitation in autism, the imitation abilities of 22 children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) with and without autism were compared. Based on previous research, we predicted that children with FXS and autism would have significantly more difficulty with non-meaningful imitation tasks. After controlling for full-scale IQ and age, the groups did not differ in their overall imitation accuracy scores, but analysis of error patterns revealed that children with FXS and autism made more groping errors and additional movements than the comparison group. These error patterns are consistent with the hypothesis that an action production system deficit plays an important role in the overall imitation deficit in autism, at least in children with FXS. (Contains 2 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the concurrent validity of subtests on the "Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language" (CASL) by comparing them with the assessment of communication and social skills on the "Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales" ("Vineland"). The participants were 35 children and adolescents with higher functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who had received both the CASL and the "Vineland." Results of the study suggest that the Pragmatic Judgment and Inferences subtests of the CASL appeared to document the difficulties that individuals with ASD had in adaptive use of language for communication. (Contains 4 tables.)

Spearman's "law of diminishing returns" or SLODR refers to a decrease in "g" saturation as ability level increases. SLODR has been demonstrated in a number of intellectual batteries but several important aspects of the phenomenon are not yet well understood. We investigated the presence of SLODR in the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (KABC-II), a popular measure of intelligence for children. We used confirmatory factor analysis to investigate the invariance of two hierarchical factor structures across ability groups; the subtest variance explained by the ability factors across groups; and whether SLODR was produced only by subtests with low loadings on the general ability factor. We found that SLODR was present in the KABC-II, and its presence was not dependent on the hierarchical model of intelligence. Moreover, our findings suggest that SLODR acts on "g" and not on the broad abilities, although the contribution of "g" to various broad abilities is lower in the high ability group. Finally, SLODR was not produced by the subtests with the lowest "g" loadings on the general factor.

The author investigated age- and gender-related changes in self-evaluative judgments of 87 children followed from preschool through 2nd grade. Focusing on cognitive, physical, and peer competence assessed by the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance (PSPCSA; S. Harter & R. Pike, 1984), the author tested PSPCSA subscale measures for changes in their mean levels, for intercorrelations, and for correlations with external criteria, and then analyzed results for gender and grade trends. Gender effects were not identified in the analyses. Mean-level changes occurred, but patterns of change differed. External measures (teacher ratings) did not relate to children's self-perceptions (physical and social competences). Whereas external measures of academic competence correlated significantly with children's self-evaluations, the correlations across grade levels did not differ significantly. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

In a sample of 92 children aged 6-13 years this study investigates the normal developmental change in the relation between executive functioning (EF) and the core behavioural symptoms associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention) as well as symptoms often co-occurring with childhood hyperactivity (conduct- and internalizing problems). EF was assessed by using multiple tests grouped through prior factor analysis, resulting in cognitive measures relating to disinhibition, speed/arousal, verbal working memory, non-verbal working memory, and fluency. The results showed that although disinhibition was positively related to hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention mainly for the youngest age group, there were no significant age effects for these relations. Instead, age effects were found for the relations between speed/arousal and inattention as well as for the relations between verbal working memory/fluency and inattention. In the oldest age group poor performance on these cognitive measures was associated with high ratings of inattention. For the total sample a relation was obtained between disinhibition and hyperactivity/impulsivity as well as between both working memory measures and internalizing problems. In conclusion, the results from this study suggest that poor inhibition is most clearly associated with ADHD symptoms for younger children, whereas poor functioning with regard to later developing and more complex executive functions such as working memory and fluency is associated with ADHD symptoms for older children. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)

Preschool-age children who are experiencing delays in physical, cognitive, communication, social, emotional, or adaptive development are often referred for a comprehensive assessment to make diagnostic determinations and to help develop appropriate interventions. Typically cognitive assessment has a key role in a comprehensive evaluation of a young child. In this article, five individually administered tests of cognitive ability, normed for the preschool-age child, are reviewed. These specific tests include the "Bayley Scales of Infant Development", 2nd edition, the "Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children", 2nd edition, the "Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence", 3rd edition, the "Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale", 5th edition, and the "Differential Abilities Scales". The following is provided for these cognitive instruments: a description of the test procedures, information on scoring systems, highlights of the technical qualities, and a summary of the general meaning of test results. The article concludes with strengths and limitations of the instruments. (Contains 9 tables and 2 figures.)

The goal of this review of the clinical and research literature is to identify, describe, and critique published methods for assessment of attention and related functions in preschool children (ages 6 and younger). The need for valid assessment of preschool children has grown dramatically in the past two decades following the implementation of special education services for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers under Public Law 99-457. At the same time, the number of preschool children presenting to clinicians for assessment of attention problems has grown at a steady rate. In contrast to assessment methods for school-age children, the availability of reliable and valid measures of attention for preschool children is much more limited. The majority of instruments developed to measure attention in preschoolers are described in the experimental literature, with fewer available commercially. Attention tests that can be appropriately used with children aged 3 and younger are scarce. Most preschool tests of attention report validity data involving sensitivity in contrasting clinical groups to controls, while the literature describing the utility of these measures in differentiating between clinical groups is much more limited. The review provides information on performance based tests (e.g., continuous performance, cancellation, auditory/visual span), as well as parent and teacher rating scales. The review concludes that valid assessment of attention and related skills can be effectively achieved in preschool children, with appropriate cautions. (Contains 1 table.)

Many school psychologists use the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities to guide their interpretation of scores from intelligence test batteries. Some may frequently assume that composite scores purported to measure the same CHC broad abilities should be relatively similar for individuals no matter what subtests or batteries were administered to obtain these scores. This study examined this assumption using six samples of preschool children, school-age children, or adults who completed two or more intelligence test batteries. From these samples, composites measuring the broad abilities Crystallized Intelligence, Visual Processing, Fluid Reasoning, and Processing Speed were compared to examine their exchangeability. Results indicate that most CHC broad ability composites produced scores that were not as exchangeable for individuals as may have been assumed by some. Discussion focuses on the influence of score reliability and on the interaction between examinee characteristics and the tasks used to measure the broad abilities. (Contains 2 tables and 9 footnotes.)

In order to better understand the neuropsychological underpinnings of the relative strength in word identification in individuals with Down syndrome, the performance of children and adolescents with Down syndrome (N=29) was compared to the performance of a nonverbal-IQ matched group of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities of mixed etiologies (N=20) on measures letter/word identification and cognitive-linguistic functioning. Though no between-group differences were observed for letter/word identification or visual processing performance, individuals with Down syndrome showed significantly poorer verbal short-term memory and receptive vocabulary skills. In terms of neuropsychological correlates of letter/word identification, significant linear associations were observed between letter/word identification (K-ABC reading/decoding) and verbal short-term memory (K-ABC number recall), as well as receptive vocabulary (PPVT-III) and visual processing (MVPT-R) in both groups. However, when only children with word identification competence (as opposed to letter identification competence) were included in analyses, visual perception scores (total MVPT-R) were significantly associated with word identification in the Down syndrome group, but not in the mixed comparison group. Implications for etiology-specific instructional approaches are discussed.

This study was an initial effort to examine the applicability of Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) procedures to measure reading in a language other than English and more specifically, in Hebrew. Participants included a sample of 458 students from grades 1-5 from three elementary schools in Israel, 416 from regular education and 42 students from grades 2-5 who were receiving special services in reading. Students were tested on CBM probes in the winter and spring of the 2002 academic year. Four characteristics of the CBM measure were evaluated: (1) concurrent validity with two reading sub-scales (decoding and comprehension) of the Kaufman-ABC that had been translated and normed in Israel; (2) student outcomes in reading fluency across grades and across time within grades; (3) ability of the measure to discriminate students with and without reading problems and (4) the sensitivity of the measure when used weekly for progress monitoring. Results indicated that moderate to strong correlation coefficients were evident between CBM scores and the K-ABC reading subscales except for grade 4 in the spring. Also, students showed increased growth across grades and across time within the school year, except for a lack of increase from grade 2 to 3 in the spring. Students receiving specialized help for reading scored significantly lower on CBM probes when compared with regular education students. Finally, a gradual week-by-week progress rate in the curriculum comparable to those found with CBM reading in English was also found. Results suggest that the oral reading fluency metric may be applicable to evaluating reading in Hebrew. Implications for the use of the metric in other countries and languages are discussed.

Conducted a meta-analysis of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) to ascertain the numbers of factors in the mental processing subtest of the K-ABC. Analyses yielded sequential and simultaneous processing factors, suggesting that the original K-ABC theory was not supported. (SLD)

As an alternative to equally weighted difference scores, examined an orthogonal reliable component analysis (RCA) solution and an oblique principal components analysis (PCA) solution for the standardization sample of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC; A. Kaufman and N. Kaufman, 1983). Discusses the practical implications of the increased reliability with which KABC scores are assessed with the orthogonal RCA method. (SLD)

Studied the interpretation of scores on the Kaufman Ability Battery for Children(K-ABC) (Kaufman and Kaufman, 1983) as a measure of "Pure" intelligence in the Israeli standardization sample of 1,600 students in kindergarten through grade 8. Schooling was found to affect raw scores on all K-ABC mental processing scores, and the effects of schooling exceeded the effects of age for five of the eight subtests. (SLD)

Compares performance of children (N=19) with nonverbal language disabilities to a group of children (N=16) with language learning disabilities using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). As hypothesized, children with nonverbal learning disabilities were found to have significantly higher simultaneous successive processing scores. Suggests that different subtypes of learning disabilities can be defined through differences in cognitive processes. (Author/JDM)

Investigates the discourse coherence of school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Children with SLI were found to be significantly impaired in the areas of topic maintenance, event sequencing, explicitness, conjunctive cohesion, and fluency. Theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed. (Author/ER)

Four models of intellectual abilities were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis and data from 197 children referred for a gifted program who took the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). All four models were a possible fit, but the best understanding came from a model posited on a theory of fluid-crystallized abilities. (SLD)

Evaluation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with 130 primary school children in Zaire revealed three findings: (1) the distinction between sequential processing and simultaneous processing was valid; (2) the K-ABC discriminated effectively among grade levels, health and family environment variables, and tribal membership; and (3) the Zairian children's scores were markedly lower than the American normative sample. (Author/DB)