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Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
| Availability |
Please visit this website for more information about the instrument: Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-II
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| Classification |
Supplemental: Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Mitochondrial Diseases (Mito)
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| Short Description of Instrument |
The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-II (KABC-II) is an instrument used to assess intelligence in children ages 3-18 years. The instrument is based on two parallel models of intellectual functioning; the Luria or neuropsychological model excludes measure of verbal ability, which may bias test results in those for whom English is not a first language or who may not have had educational exposure to be successful at measures of verbal knowledge. Subtests are designed to minimize verbal instructions to limit influence of language on overall results. A second model, the Cattell/Horn/Carroll (CHC) model emphasizes fluid and crystalized intelligence.
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| Comments/Special Instructions |
Selecting the Luria model of interpretation is preferred for children with a bilingual background, children with a cultural background that may have affected knowledge acquisition and verbal development, children with known or suspected language disorder, children with autism, or a child who is deaf or hard of hearing (Kaufman et al, 2004).
Out of level administration options are available for younger children who are performing well above typical expectations for their age, or for older children who are demonstrating cognitive impairment that may make age-appropriate testing items too difficult to respond to reliably.
Testing items are available in Spanish translation.
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| Scoring and Psychometric Properties |
Scoring: The test is comprised of 18 subtests in all, both core and supplemental. The specific subtests administered vary depending on whether the Luria model or CHC model is selected as well as the age of the child being assessed. Subtests in the Luria model are grouped into 4 separate indices: Sequential Processing Scale, Simultaneous Processing Scale, Learning Ability, and Planning Ability.
CHC model uses the same indices with different names and adds one additional verbal scale: Term Memory (Gsm), Visual Processing (Gv), Long Term Storage and Retrieval (Glr), and Fluid Reasoning (Gf) plus an additional 5th scale Crystallised Ability (Gc).
Raw scores from each subtest are totaled and yield a scaled score based on age-based norms and these scaled scores are totaled to yield scores for index scores. Each model also yields a general intelligence score; the Mental Processing Index for the Luria model and the Fluid-Crystalized Index in the CHC model.
Psychometric Properties: Internal consistency reliabilities for KABC-II scales and global scales are high, averaging in the mid to upper 0.90s. Internal-consistency reliability for subtests was also good, ranging from .80s to .90s across domains and age groups. Test-retest reliability ranged from the mid .80s to the mid .90s, with larger practice effects noted on simultaneous/Gv and Planning/Gf scales.
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| Rationale/Justification |
Strengths: The instrument is widely used and culturally fair, allowing testing across multiple settings. The wide age range assessed lends itself well to longitudinal follow-up in a pediatric population.
Mitochondrial Disease-Specific:
Strengths: Has been demonstrated to be sensitive to neurodegeneration in a pediatric sample, and thus is useful for measuring change in cognitive status over time (Delaney et al., 2014).
Working memory subtests may be sensitive to disease progression in children with mitochondrial disorders (van de Loo et al, 2022).
Weaknesses: Requires use of manipulatives which may be difficult for individuals with motor impairment.
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| References |
Key References:
Kaufman AS, Kaufman NL. Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service; 1983.
Kaufman AS, Kaufman NL. Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children - second edition (K-ABC-II). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service; 2004.
Kaufman AS, Lichtenberger EO, Fletcher-Janzen E, Kaufman NL. Essentials of KABC-II assessment. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2005.
Additional References:
Delaney KA, Rudser KR, Yund BD, Whitley CB, Haslett PA, Shapiro EG. Methods of neurodevelopmental assessment in children with neurodegenerative disease: Sanfilippo syndrome. JIMD Rep. 2014;13:129-37.
Donders J. Validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children when employed with children with traumatic brain injury. J Clin Psychol. 1992 Mar;48(2):225-30.
Lichtenberger EO, Kaufman AS, Kaufman NL. The K-ABC: Theory and Application. In R. J. Samuda (Ed.), Advances in cross-cultural assessment Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 1989., pp. 20-55.
Lichtenberger EO, Broadbooks DY, Kaufman AS. Essentials of Cognitive Assessment with KAIT and Other Kaufman Measures. New York: Wiley; 2000.
van de Loo KFE, Custers JAE, de Boer L, van Lieshout M, de Vries MC, Janssen MCH, Verhaak CM. Cognitive functioning and mental health in children with a primary mitochondrial disease. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2022 Oct 1;17(1):368.
Worthington GB 3rd, Bening ME. Use of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children in predicting achievement among students referred for special education services. J Learn Disabil. 1988 Jun-Jul;21(6):370-4.
Document last updated March 2024
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