title: Structural Validity of the WISC-IV for Students With Learning Disabilities.
abstract: The structural validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis for a clinical sample of 1,537 students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) by school psychologists in two large southwestern school districts. Results indicated that a bifactor model consisting of four first-order domain specific factors and a general intelligence breadth factor fit the data best. Consequently, the structural validity of the WISC-IV for students with SLD was supported by the results of the present study. The general intelligence factor contributed the most information, accounting for 48% of the common variance. Given this structure, it was recommended that score interpretation should emphasize the Full-Scale IQ score because of the marginal contributions of the first-order domain-specific factors and their low precision of measurement independent of the general factor.
authors: University of Texas at San Antonio, USA Kara.Styck@utsa.edu.
authors: Kara M
authors: KM
authors: Styck
authors: Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.
authors: Marley W
authors: MW
authors: Watkins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000592:standards*
keywords: factor analysis; intelligence; learning disabilities