Classroom performance and language development of CI students placed in mainstream elementary school.
OBJECTIVE
Investigation of the relation between classroom performance and language development of cochlear implant (CI) students in mainstream education. Structural analyses of assessment of mainstream performance (AMP) and Screening Instrument For Targeting Educational Risk (SIFTER) instruments.


METHODS
Cross-sectional instrument and language development analyses.


METHODS
Tertiary university medical center.


METHODS
Twenty-six CI children in elementary school with congenital or prelingual deafness were included. At the time of this study, mean period of multichannel CI use was 5.3 years, and children's ages ranged from 6.5 to 12.8 years.


METHODS
Assessment of mainstream performance and SIFTER instruments measured classroom performance and language development were measured by means of Reynell and Schlichting tests.


RESULTS
Assessment of mainstream performance and SIFTER domains showed good reliability (Cronbach alpha >0.6), but factor analyses only showed the expected instrument structure in the AMP. In both questionnaires and within all domains, individual variability is detected. Spearman's correlation analyses showed the probable explanation of individual questionnaire variability by language test results (p value mostly <0.01). The AMP and SIFTER instruments showed a predictive capacity for language development, based upon general linear model univariate and linear regression analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
Individual classroom performance, measured by AMP and SIFTER questionnaires, of CI children in mainstream education varies. Correlation analyses showed strong significant relation between questionnaire results (classroom performance) and both expressive and receptive language test results (Schlichting and Reynell tests). Structural questionnaire analyses of the AMP and SIFTER demonstrated good reliability. The predictive value of the AMP can monitor the actual linguistic functioning of the child.
Damen
Godelieve W J A
GW
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. g.damen@kno.umcn.nl
Langereis
Margreet C
MC
Snik
Ad F M
AF
Chute
Patricia M
PM
Mylanus
Emmanuel A M
EA
D017668:Age of Onset; D001298:Audiology; D002648:Child; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003638:Deafness / Q000151:congenital / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008282:Mainstreaming, Education; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires