A recategorization system developed by Bannatyne to categorize subtest scatter from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) is used as an alternative to isolated analysis of each individual subtest. Reading disabled, learning disabled, and educable mentally handicapped students are categorized according to their performance in four areas: spatial, conceptual, sequential, and acquired knowledge. This study examined the utility of the Bannatyne recategorization system in discriminating among three groups of fourth through sixth grade handicapped students, using a stepwise discriminant functions analysis on the subtest scaled scores from the WISC-R for 294 learning disabled (LD), 36 educable mentally retarded (EMR), and 71 emotionally disturbed (ED) students. The results revealed that 100% of the EMR and ED students were predicted to be labeled LD on the basis of this recategorization, while 99.7% of the LD students were predicted to be LD. (These finding are examined in relation to the use of alternative statistical methods and different diagnostic procedures to identify and classify students). (Author/GDC)