The purpose of the present study was to compare short forms of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R, Wechsler, 1974; 1989) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:IV) as screening instruments for selecting children for gifted programs. A review of previous research suggested that the SB:IV, being considerably newer, yields lower scores than the WISC-R for high functioning children, but that research did not utilize short-form test batteries. In the present study, 51 subjects ranging in age from 8 years, 2 months to 9 years, 2 months, all of whom were being considered for placement in gifted programs, were administered short forms of the two tests. The results were consistent with previous findings using the complete test batteries, with over 80% of the subjects scoring lower on the SB:IV. In practical terms, the SB:IV identified only two subjects as scoring above the required cut-point, while the WISC-R identified 13. Implications for school systems are discussed in terms of the risk of possible overidentification of candidates for gifted programs when older test instruments are used.
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