The impact of speech and language problems in kindergarten on academic learning and special education status in grade three

Abstract

Purpose: This study addressed the implications of experiencing early speech–language pathologies (SLPs) in kindergarten on special education needs (SEN) and academic outcomes in grade three.

Method: Early Development Instrument (EDI) kindergarten data on development and the presence or absence of SLPs were matched with grade three school-system standardised tests of reading, writing and maths, and SEN classification in Ontario, Canada for 59 015 students. Children were classified as having a Persistent speech language pathology (SLP), Remittent SLP, Latent SEN or as a typically developing Control.

Result: Even though 72.3% of children’s SLPs remitted by grade three, kindergarten SLPs conveyed higher likelihood of having an SEN, and of lower achievement levels in grade three. The degree of impact varied between Persistent and Remittent groups. Children in the Latent group had lower scores in kindergarten on all five EDI domains than Control children.

Conclusion: These population level results provide strong evidence to indicate that all children who present with an SLP in kindergarten face further academic challenges, even if their SLP resolves over time. Findings have implications for early intervention and treatment for children with early SLPs.

Keywords:

• speech–language impairment
• Early Development Instrument
• special education needs
• academic achievement
• longitudinal study

Acknowledgements

Parts of this paper were developed as a fourth year honours thesis by the second author and as a summer internship by the third. We gratefully acknowledge the collaboration of the Education Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO).

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Parts of the study were funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant “Creating Longitudinal Data on Students’ Early Years” to S. D. and M. J.

Figure 1. Flow chart depicting the exclusion criteria and group designation using Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) scores, speech–language pathology (SLP) designations and the presence of an individualised education plan (IEP). Shaded rectangles represent children that matched the corresponding criteria, rectangles that are not shaded represent children who did not meet the corresponding material and were subsequently excluded from data analysis. The bottom four rectangles represent the four study groups used throughout the analysis.