K-ABC/McCarthy Performance for Repeating and Nonrepeating Preschoolers.

This study compares the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) profiles of successful and unsuccessful preschoolers with learning disabilities. Subjects, 40 preschool students, were tested at the beginning and at the end of the preschool year and were placed into repeating or nonrepeating groups based on the preschool staff's recommendations. Both groups scored higher on the K-ABC than on the MSCA. Repeaters scored lower on both scales. At the time of retesting (K-ABC only), the repeaters, as compared to the nonrepeaters, scored significantly lower on each K-ABC global scale. On the second testing, repeaters scored higher on Mental Processing Composite (MPC) and Simultaneous Processing (SP) subscales, while the nonrepeaters scored significantly higher on MPC, SP, and Achievement subscales. The repeaters displayed a more uniform global scale pattern on the K-ABC while the nonrepeaters displayed significantly higher mean Simultaneous scores as compared to mean Sequential scores at time of retesting. Stability coefficients ranged from .55 to .84 for the nonrepeaters and from .83 to .95 for the repeaters. (Author/JAZ)