Predicting Kindergarten School Performance Using the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities

Abstract
This study assessed the relationship of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) to concurrent measures of achievement (reading and mathematics), teacher ratings of learning ability, and school failure. The MSCA was positively related to each of the criterion measures in a sample of 74 kindergarten children. All of the children scoring below 68 on the McCarthy General Cognitive Index (GCI) had low scores on at least one of the criteria, children scoring in the intermediate range on the GCI (68-83) were also found to be at risk for academic problems (53% had some degree of academic difficulty), while only 12% of those scoring above 83 had academic difficulties in kindergarten.