The puipose of the resent study was to determine the degree to which performance on the dccarthy Scaiiies of Children's Abilities correlated with performance on the Stanford-Binet for a group of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 44 children ranging in age from 3-11 to 5-4. It was found that the General Cognitive Index scores of the McCarthy Scales correlated well with the Stanford-Binet I& scores, rXy = .90. However, 40 of the 44 subjecL9 scored higher on the Stanford-Binet than on the McCarthy Scales.
A growing awareness of the importance of early childhood experiences has resulted in an emphasis on educational programming for the normal and handicapped preschool-aged child (Hodges, Lapides, & Phillips, 1977; Public Law 94-142, 1975; Soeffing, 1974). As a result of this emphasis placed on programming for preschool children, emphasis is also being placed on the use of assessment procedures with these children. Herein lies a major problem, as there are few devices available which can accurately assess the preschool child's current level of functioning and predict future level of achievement. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Stanford-Binet) has long been considered one of the best intelligence tests. It was designed for children and adults from age two on, which makes it one of the few tests appropriate for preschoolers. Stott and Ball (1965) reported that for preschool-aged children the Stanford-Binet was the most frequently used intelligence test, with over 90% of the respondents in their sample reporting its use. In spite of the widespread popularity of the Stanford-Binet, it has some weaknesses which limit its current usefulness: (a) the Binet scale yields a single score which indicates general intellectual ability and does not provide a profile of abilities; (b) the heavy emphasis on verbal skills which is especially inappropriate at the younger ages; (c) the termination of the test after a series of failures; and (d) the outdated pictures and verbal content. Until 1972, a child's score on the Stanford-Binet was evaluated against norms based on children tested in the 1930s. New norms are now available; however, no content changes of any significance have been made since 1960 (Popplestone & McPherson, 1974). A new test which avoids these weaknesses yet measures the same types of abilities in very young children is needed as an alternative for preschoolers.
The McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (McCarthy Scales), published in 1972, appear to be a potential alternative for the Stanford-Binet. Appropriate for ages 2% to 8% years, they were designed to measure general cognitive abilities as well as specific strengths and weaknesses in various verbal and motor abilities.
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