Comparison of an Intelligence Test and a Screening Battery as Predictors of Reading Ability in Low Income, Mexican American Children

Abstract

Reading performance of low income, Mexican American children was predicted from scores on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) and the Florida Kindergarten Screening Battery (FKSB). The WPPSI and the FKSB were administered when the subjects were five years of age. School reading grades and reading scores from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (lTBS) comprised reading performance measures. Results indicate that the WPPSI and the FKSB were highly similar in their ability to predict later reading performance levels. Both measures were able to account for a significant amount of variation in reading grades and ITBS reading scores. Verbal subtests in both measures were more poorly correlated with reading performance than were perceptual-performance subtests.