A Longitudinal View of the Receptive Vocabulary and Math Achievement of Young Children with Disabilities. NCSER 2011-3006
Author: Carlson, Elaine
Date: 2011-08-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Receptive Language,Vocabulary,Mathematics Achievement,Special Education,Preschool Children,Disabilities,Longitudinal Studies,Speech Impairments,Language Impairments,Developmental Delays,Autism,Scores

The Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, is examining the characteristics of children receiving preschool special education, the services they receive, their transitions across educational levels, and their performance over time on assessments of academic and adaptive skills. PEELS includes a nationally representative sample of 3,104 children with disabilities who were ages 3 through 5 when the study began in 2003-04. PEELS data were collected through several different instruments and activities, including direct one-on-one assessments of the children at five points in time. While several comprehensive reports have been prepared using the PEELS data, this one is designed to address two specific research questions: (1) How do children who received preschool special education services perform over time on assessments of receptive vocabulary and math skills?; and (2) How does their receptive vocabulary and math performance vary over time by primary disability category? Findings on receptive vocabulary performance include: (1) At age 3, children in PEELS had a mean score of 61,1 and at age 10, children had a mean score of 113; (2) Children's growth on the Psychometrically Adapted and Shortened Version of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test III (PPVTIII adapted version) decelerated, or slowed down, as the children got older, with scores for children at age 3 growing 12.9 points and scores for children at age 10 growing 1.4 points; (3) At age 3, children with a speech or language impairment had a significantly higher mean on the PPVT-III (adapted version) than children with a developmental delay. There were no statistically significant differences in growth at age 3 between disability groups, and the gap persisted at age 10 between children with a speech or language impairment and children with a developmental delay. Findings on math performance include: (1) At age 3, children in PEELS had a mean score on Woodcock-Johnson III: Applied Problems of 362, and at age ten, children had a mean score of 488; (2) Growth was decelerating, or slowing down, as the children got older, with scores for children at age 3 growing 32.1 points and scores for children at age 10 growing 4.3 points; and (3) Children with a speech or language impairment had significantly higher mean scores at age 3 than children with autism or a developmental delay. There were no statistically significant differences in growth at age 3 between disability groups. The gap between scores for children with speech or language impairments and children with a developmental delay persisted at age 10. Children with autism caught up to children with a speech or language impairment by age 10. Appended are: (1) Diagram of Selection of LEA Sample; (2) Weighting Procedures; (3) Results from PEELS Nonresponse Bias Study; (4) Number of Children Who Had Test Accommodations; (5) Final Augmented LEA Sample Size; (6) Likelihood Ratio Tests for Prediction Models; (7) Details of the Likelihood Ratio Tests for the Fit of the Merged-Cohort Models; and (8) Hierarchical Linear Models Used in the Analysis. (Contains 71 tables, 5 figures and 35 footnotes.)