This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Watson, C. S. Articles by Watson, B. U. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Watson, C. S. Articles by Watson, B. U. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Sensory, Cognitive, and Linguistic Factors in the Early Academic Performance of Elementary School Children

The Benton-IU Project

Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Department of Psychology, and core faculty in cognitive science at Indiana University

Gary R. Kidd

Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University

Douglas G. Horner

Binocular Vision and Pediatric Service of the School of Optometry at Indiana University

Phil J. Connell

Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University

Andrya Lowther

School of Optometry, Indiana University

David A. Eddins

Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, Center for Hearing and Deafness, and Center for Cognitive Science at SUNY at Buffalo

Glenn Krueger

Benton Community School Corporation, Fowler, Indiana

David A. Goss

Indiana University

Bill B. Rainey

School of Optometry at Indiana University

Mary D. Gospel

both Indiana and Butler Universities

Betty U. Watson

Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University

Standardized sensory, perceptual, linguistic, intellectual, and cognitive tests were administered to 470 children, approximately 96% of the students entering the first grade in the four elementary schools of Benton County, Indiana, over a 3-year period (1995-1997). The results of 36 tests and subtests administered to entering first graders were well described by a 4-factor solution. These factors and the tests that loaded most heavily on them were reading-related skills (phonological awareness, letter and word identification); visual cognition (visual perceptual abilities, spatial perception, visual memory); verbal cognition (language development, vocabulary, verbal concepts); and speech processing (the ability to understand speech under difficult listening conditions). A cluster analysis identified 9 groups of children, each with a different profile of scores on the 4 factors. Within these groups, the proportion of students with unsatisfactory reading achievement in the first 2 years of elementary school (as reflected in teacher-assigned grades) varied from 3% to 40%. The profiles of factor scores demonstrated the primary influence of the reading-related skills factor on reading achievement and also on other areas of academic performance. The second strongest predictor of reading and mathematics grades was the visual cognition factor, followed by the verbal cognition factor. The speech processing factor was the weakest predictor of academic achievement, accounting for less than 1% of the variance in reading achievement. This project was a collaborative effort of the Benton Community School Corporation and a multidisciplinary group of investigators from Indiana University.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 36, No. 2, 165-197 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/002221940303600209


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. M. Johnstone Toward Evidence-Based Practice in the Auditory Processing Disorder Clinic Perspectives on Audiology, August 1, 2008; 4(1): 9 - 14. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. A. DeBonis and D. Moncrieff Auditory Processing Disorders: An Update for Speech-Language Pathologists Am J Speech Lang Pathol, February 1, 2008; 17(1): 4 - 18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]