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K‐ABC content bias: Comparisons between Mexican American and White children
Author(s) -
Valencia Richard R.,
Rankin Richard J.,
Livingston Ronald
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6807(199507)32:3<153::aid-pits2310320302>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - psychology , socioeconomic status , ethnic group , mexican americans , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , white (mutation) , academic achievement , scale (ratio) , demography , population , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , sociology , anthropology , gene , biology
Content (item) bias on the Mental Processing Scales and the Achievement Scale of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K‐ABC) was investigated with 100 Mexican American and 100 White fifth‐ and sixth‐grade boys and girls. All children were English‐speaking and from similar socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. An item‐group (partial correlation) method that controlled for age, sex, and ability was used to examine bias. On the Mental Processing Scales, 17 (14%) of 120 items were found to be biased—the strong majority against the Mexican American children. On the Achievement Scale, it was observed that 58 (63%) of 92 K‐ABC items were biased—all against the Mexican American sample. This latter finding is discussed in the context of possible differences in learning opportunities (language based, SES based, and school segregation) experienced by the two ethnic groups.