The inclusion of the an Achievement scale in the original K-ABC was central to its definition of intelligence, which made a distinction between problem solving and the knowledge of facts. Sub-tests were selected on the basis of "rational and lo g ica l considerations" (Kaufman & Kaufman 1983), to provide evidence of past acquisitions, resembling The Cattell-Horn 'crystallised' abilities (Horn & Cattell 1966). The original material in the sub-tests which constituted this scale were deemed culturally inappropriate, as they included items with which the current study population would have had no previous exposure. A much abbreviated Achievement scale was piloted, which consisted of assessments of early numeracy and pre-reading skills.
Arithmetic
A measurement of arithmetic abilities and number-related skills was included as a necessary component of any battery that wished to investigate achievement and school related knowledge. The format and content were based upon the Arithmetic sub-scale of the K-ABC, but several modifications, including a major alteration of procedure, were made. As in the K-ABC, a theme linked all the items included in the test, but the theme used was of a family travelling (the original ‘zoo’ theme being inappropriate). Each item was represented by a coloured picture, to enhance interest, and also to make this a visual, as well as an auditory task. The items which were retained following piloting included: counting; matching quantity; ordinal aspects of number; subtraction; division; multiplication; and conservation of number. Those excluded were items concerning shape words, and number identification.
Each item was scored out of 3, representing three possible levels of difficulty. At the highest level the child responded with the correct solution to the original question; at level two verbal and gestural prompts were given; and at level one the solution was first reached together with the child, who was the asked to complete it again alone. Sticks were provided for the child to use as an aid to
counting, and their use was actively encouraged at level one. This procedure brought this sub-test most in line with the teach-test-teach format of dynamic assessment.
With each item containing a teaching element most children were able to complete items even up to a more complex level, and the cut off points were seldom used. However the administration of the sub-test took quite some time. Some items proved to be totally inappropriate, as they required reading and writing skills beyond the experience of many of the children. As the omission of these items would have the added advantage of reducing the length, this recommendation was followed. The results reported are on the modified form of the sub-test.
Table 13.1 Arithmetic
Possible maximum score; 96
mean s.d. min max corr. 2-tailed si g
Time 1 47.57 14.8 10 73
0.63 <.001
Time 2 47.46 12.0 29 76
Paired Diff. Mean .11, s.d 11.77, t-value .05, df 27. 2-tail Sia. >.1. 95% Cl (-4.46, 4.67)
Further training was required to create a greater uniformity in the teaching given. This was supplied, but it was decided not to re-pilot the task, as the correlation had already reached significance.
Rhyming/Alliteration
Learning to read and write involves a large number of skills and abilities. Auditory perception is only one, but it has been identified as having a significant relationship with reading development, at very least, being a marker for the development of reading difficulties (Bradley & Bryant 1978, 1983, Goswami & Bryant 1990, Frith & Frith 1996). The investigations of Bryant and Bradley, studying English speaking children from a variety of age groups, have established three important aspects of the relationship between auditory perception, specifically phonological awareness, and learning to read. Firstly,
that young children (4-5 years old) detect rhyme (common sounds at the ends of words), and alliteration (common sounds at the beginning of words), before they learn to read. Secondly, backward readers (assessed at 8 years and above), were found to have a particular difficulty with categorising sounds. Finally, that training children in sound classification and letter-sound correspondences improves later reading performance (Bradley & Bryant 1978,1983, Bryant & Bradley 1985).
The Bradley and Bryant assessment task requires the child to determine the odd one out in a series of words presented orally (e.g. nod, red, fed, bed; or sun, see, sock and rag). As this task appeared to be extremely suitable for use in a community where children have little or no exposure to written materials it was adopted, adapted, and piloted for use in Kigiriama, the most commonly spoken Bantu language in the study area. Initially, due to time constraints, only the rhyming task was used. The re-test reliability of the Rhyming test, calculated on 56 children and reported in Table 13.2, was not encouraging.
Table 13.2 Rhyming
Possible maximum score: 10
mean s.d. min max corr. 2-tailed si g
Time 1 4.52 1.98 0 9
0.37 0.06
Time 2 4.26 1.69 0 9
Performance appeared to be confounded by the memory component of the task, and not reflecting solely rhyme recognition. Many children appeared completely bemused by this test, and random answering was common. It is possible that the choice of rhyming, as opposed to alliteration, was inappropriate for Bantu speakers. In English the developmental progression is from rhyming to alliteration skills (Bryant personal communication). In a language which marks grammatical differences by altering the beginning rather than the ending of words, as occur in Bantu languages like Kigiriama, further investigation is needed to assess whether the skills develop differently. Similar difficulties had been experienced by one of the test authors when piloting the test with children
who spoke another Bantu language, in South Africa (Bryant, personal communication).
It was decided to pilot an Alliteration task as a possible alternative, with modifications made to the procedure to reduce the memory component, on a further 21 children. After the completion of the exercise it was observed that a different procedure had been followed for 7 children, including the presentation of the target words in a different order. The results were analysed twice, the second time excluding these 7 children (see tables a and b below).
Table 13.3a Alliteration
Possible maximum score: 14
n=21 mean s.d. min max corr. 2-tailed sig
Time 1 8.90 3.62 3 14
Time 2 10.29 2.80 4 14
0.27 0.24
Table 13.3b Alliteration
n=14 mean s.d. min max corr. 2-tailed sig
Time 1 10.29 3.10 4 14
Time 2 10.50 2.85 4 14
0.67 0.01
These large changes following only slight changes in procedure were a cause for concern. Although it appears that Alliteration may be a more relevant skill to be assessing in the current context further investigations are needed to ascertain whether this is actually what the task is measuring. Given these concerns, and the need to reduce the length of the whole test battery, it was decided to abandon any attempt at measuring pre-reading skills in this study.