Practical Implications of Differences Betzveen the American and Canadian Norms for WISC-III and a Short Form for Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The WISC-III protocols of 66 Canadian children with learning disabilities were scored using both the American and the Canadian norms to make comparisons of the resulting profiles. The Canadian WISC-III scores were compared with both the Canadian study of WISC-III and the American WISC-III scores for these children. The Canadian WISC-III scores were found to be lower than the American WISC-III scores in Verbal IQ, Full Scale IQ, Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility. Lower scores resulted in changes in Full Scale IQ classifications, but use of the confidence interval around the Full Scale IQ avoids misclassifications of children. Fewer children had a scatter of 10 points or more when scored using the Canadian in contrast to the American norms. The Dumont/Faro short form for WISC-III was validated using Canadian normed scores. These results will assist prartitioners and researchers in the interpretation of scores using the Canadian norms. Practitioners are urged to use the Canadian norms when assessing the intellectual capabilities of canadian children.