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The experiential effect of kindergarten on Bankson language screening test performance
J. COMMUN. DISORD. 21 (1988), 469-478
THE EXPERIENTIAL EFFECT OF KINDERGARTENONBANKSONLANGUAGE SCREENING TEST PERFORMANCE GEORGE W. LARSON and PATRICIA A. SUMMERS University of North Texas
This investigation examined the effect of kindergarten experience on the performance of two groups of children on the Bankson Language Screening Test. One group of children was tested at the beginning of their kindergarten experience and a second group was tested live months later. Performance of the two groups on the Bankson was determined to be significantly different, independent of age. The different performance pattern for each group is described as well as the possible implications. There may be a need for different sets of language test norms for children with kindergarten experience and for children without this experience.
INTRODUCTION An important question for speech-language pathologists is the effect of children’s prior experiences on standardized language test performance. The relationship of language and cultural experience has often been demonstrated in the field of speech-language pathology (Bloom and Lahey, 1978; Williams, 1970; Taylor, 1986). This has led the profession during the last decade to become more aware of nonbiased assessment and the need to be more cautious in test interpretation (McCauly and Swisher, 1984a, b). Although the profession has paid particular attention to the cultural and linguistic differences among populations (ASHA, 1983; Terrell and Terrell, 1983), it has not, as a rule, explored other types of experiences and their effect on standardized test performance. One such important experience is kindergarten. In the United States the majority of children now have the opportunity to learn readiness skills before entering first grade. Yet there still remain a sizable number of children who do not have this educational opportunity. McCauly and Swisher (1984a, b) have cautioned that the validity and reliability of normreferenced tests can be easily compromised by the improper application Address correspondence to George W. Larson, Ph.D., Coordinator of Speech-Language Pathology, Division of Communication Disorders, University of North Texas, P. 0. Box 5008, Denton, TX 76203. 0 1988 by 6.55 Avenue
Elsevier
Science Publishing Co., Inc. of the Americas, New York, NY 10010
469 0021.9924/88/$3.50
470
G. W. LARSON
and P. A. SUMMERS
of test norms. If a test is used with a subject on which the test was not normed, then incorret inferences could be drawn from the child’s responses, resulting in inappropriate diagnosis and remediation. A similar circumstance could occur in the testing of children who have dissimilar exposure to learning-readiness skills. To our knowledge no standardized language test makes a distinction between the presence or absence of such experiences. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of kindergarten experiences on children’s performance on a standardized normreferenced language screening test. The Bankson Language Screening Test (BLST) (Bankson, 1977) was selected as the norm-referenced test because its various expressive subtests are thought to be important to language interventionists (Bankson, 1977, p. 1) and it seems to be generally accurate in the identification of language-impaired children (Blaxley et al., 1983). A screening test was chosen rather than a diagnostic language tool since clinicians frequently use this type of instrument with large groups of children. The effect of kindergarten was assessed by testing two groups of children: one group at the beginning of kindergarten and a second group five months after the beginning of kindergarten. In the present investigation, four experimental questions were asked: 1. Does five months of kindergarten learning experience significantly affect children’s scores on the BLST? 2. If differences are observed between kindergarten groups, are the differences due to age? 3. If differences are observed between kindergarten groups, are the differences due to gender? 4. If differences are observed, then which BLST subtest contribute(s) more to the total test score? METHODOLOGY Subjects A sample of 1,017 kindergarten-age children was selected from a large public school system in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Children tested within the first three weeks of enrollment in kindergarten were designated as Group I (N = 551). Children tested during their fifth month of kindergarten enrollment were designated as Group II (N = 466). Group I children had a mean age of 67 months with a standard deviation of 4 months and Group II children had a mean age of 72 months with a standard deviation of 4 months. Both groups of children came from the same schools and classrooms with kindergarten curriculum being the same for all children. Many children in the school district were bused in order to achieve a racial and enrollment balance across the district. Children of
EFFECT OF KINDERGARTEN
ON BANKSON PERFORMANCE
471
all economic status classifications were represented in each school. Thus selective sampling by school was not judged necessary. Subject selection criteria were as follows: 1. Being six years of age on or before September 1 of the next school year. 2. Having English as the primary language. 3. Passing a pure-tone and impedance screening test (ASHA 1975, 1978). 4. Having no voice, fluency, or phonological problem affecting speech intelligibility. 5. Completing all test items. The experimental design used in this investigation matched subjects in order to control for age and gender. Accordingly, 120 children (60 male and 60 female) were randomly selected from the original Group I. These Group I children were in turn matched by age and gender with 120 children selected from the original Group II sample. The criterion for age matching was that the birth date of the child from Group II be within 30 days of the birth date of the child from Group I. Age was further controlled by evenly dividing the 120 subjects in both Groups I and II between a younger group (age 60-66 months) and an older group (age 67-72 months). Hence each group sample had 60 younger subjects (30 male and 30 female) and 60 older subjects (30 male and 30 female). Procedures On arrival at the University of North Texas Speech and Hearing Center, the children were given pure-tone and impedance screening tests in order to ensure that all the children had normal hearing sensitivity. Each child was then administered the BLST individually in a separate room. The test was administered and scored in accordance with the procedures outlined in the test manual. Speech-language pathology graduate students of the Division of Communication Disorders at the University of North Texas tested the children. Prior to testing, the students were required to demonstrate correct test administration to faculty members. The testing situation was supervised by faculty members holding the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. RESULTS Group differences in BLST performance were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The 17 BLST subtests and the total score served as the dependent variables with kindergarten experi-
G. W. LARSON and P. A. SUMMERS
472
ence, age, and gender serving as independent variables (each factor having two levels). This 2 x 2 x 2 design allowed for the examination of the main effects (kindergarten experience, age, and gender) as well as twoand three-way interactions. In order that the main effects could be accurately interpreted, the interaction effects were examined first. The MANOVA results are presented in Table 1. No significant effects were obtained for any of the interactions among age, gender, and kindergarten experience or for the main effects of age and gender. However, main effects for kindergarten experience (F 18,215= 2.36, p < .002) were found to be highly significant. The investigators therefore concluded that the difference between the two groups in this investigation was due solely to kindergarten experience. Table 2 compares each BLST subtest as well as the total score (BTOT) for the two kindergarten groups. The mean scores and the standard deviations are presented for each group. Group II mean scores for each subtest were generally larger than the mean scores for Group I. Univariate F tests were made for all subtest comparisons. Seven subtests (nouns, categories, function, opposites, subject-verb, sentence repetition, and visual matching) and the BTOT revealed significant group differences. The observed score patterns supported the conclusion that Group II performance was consistently higher than the performance of Group I. In order to determine which subtests contributed more to the total score (BTOT) on the BLST, stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed for each group. For these analyses, the 17 BLST subtests served as predictor variables for the total Bankson performance score (BTOT). The results of the analysis for Group I are presented in Table 3. Fourteen subtests achieved statistical signficance for inclusion in the stepwise analysis. The obtained R* of .95 indicated that the 14 variables accounted for nearly 95% of the total BTOT variance. An adjusted R2 value of .94 in step 14 gave evidence of little upward bias in R2. Examination of the R2
Table 1. MANOVA Results for the Effects of Age, Gender, and Kindergarten Experience on Kindergarten-Age Children’s Performance on the BLST F Test
Probability
Effect
Hotelling’s p
df
Kindergarten by
.0772
18,215
.92251
.552
age by gender Age by gender Kindergarten by
.0701 .0742
18,215 18,215
.83710 .88636
.655 .596
gender Kindergarten by
.04648
18,215
.55515
,928
age Age Gender Kindergarten
.11275 .13353 .19744
18,215 18,215 18,215
1.34677 1.59500 2.35827
.161 .063 .002
EFFECT
OF KINDERGARTEN
ON BANKSON
473
PERFORMANCE
Table 2. Mean and Standard
Deviation for Each Subtest and the Total Score of the BLST for Both Groups I and II with Univariate F Tests Between Groups for Each Subtest Group I N = 120 BLST Subtests Body parts Nouns Verbs Categories Functions Prepositions Colors/quantity Opposites Pronouns Verb tense Plural/comparative/superlative Subject-verb agreement/negation Sentence repetition/judgment Visual matching/discrimination Visual association/sequencing Auditory memory Auditory sequencing/discrimination BLST total score
Group II N = 120
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
F Tests (df = 1,232)
1.63 6.44 7.82 5.42 7.02 4.77 7.11 2.09 6.40 5.65 4.63 5.97 5.45 5.57 6.26 6.44 6.95 101.82
1.55 1.83 1.08 1.73 1.71 2.13 1.91 2.56 1.61 2.26 1.54 2.25 2.08 2.10 1.65 1.41 1.42 19.29
7.95 7.00 8.00 6.07 7.83 5.06 7.35 3.83 6.65 5.78 4.75 6.79 6.12 6.17 6.65 6.65 7.20 109.81
1.14 1.64 1.16 1.64 1.32 2.37 1.54 2.79 1.79 2.40 1.66 2.01 1.90 2.16 1.69 1.55 1.49 22.81
3.49 6.13” 1.57 8.86” 17.01* .95 1.15 13.86’ 1.26 .19 .36 9.02’ 6.64“ 4.60’ 3.26 1.18 1.78 8.46”
“p < .Ol. bp < ,001. c p < .05.
Table 3. Group I Children:
Summary Statistics for the Multiple-Regression Analysis Involving Stepwise Selection of BLST Subtests as Predictors for BLST Total Score Step
Variable entered
R2
R2 change
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Nouns Opposites Verb tense Visual association Body parts Subject verb Sentence repetition Visual matching Auditory sequence Category Pronoun Prepositions Color Function
.58 .71 .78 .82 .85 .88 .89 .90 .91 .92 .93 .94 .95 .955
.58 .13 .07 .04 .03 .03 .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .005
df
F Test
1,118 2,117 3,116 4,115 5,114 6,113 7,112 8,111 9,112 10,113 11,114 12,115 13,116 14,117
161.54 143.97 136.49 132.23 133.58 140.98 136.26 131.97 131.4b 133.53 134.32 141.52 146.62 141.24
Significance
p < .OOOl .oOOl .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .oOOl p c .OOOl pc.0001 p<.OOO1 p<.OOOl p<.OOOl p<.OOOl
p <
p <
474
G. W. LARSON
and P. A. SUMMERS
Table 4. Group II Children: Summary Statistics for the Multiple-Regression Analysis Involving Stepwise Selection of BLST Subtests as Predictors for BLST Total Scores R2
Step
Variable entered
RZ
change
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Opposites Nouns Auditory memory Verb tense Prepositions Color Auditory sequencing Visual association Visual matching Categories
.47 .61 .68 .?3 .76 .77 .80 .81 .82 ,825
.47 .14 .07 .OS .03 .Ol .03 .Ol .Ol ,005
df
F Test
1,118 2,117 3,116 4,115 5,114 6,113 7,112 8,111 9,110 10.109
102.87 91.00 82.49 79.32 71.96 68.58 64.32 58.82 56.56 53.65
Significance p p p p p p
< < < < < <
.OOOl .OOOl .OOOl .OOOl .OOOl .OOOl
p p p p
< < < <
.0001 .0001 .OOOl .OOOl
change, however, revealed 82% of the variance to be vested in four variables: nouns, opposites, verb tense, and visual association. The remaining 11. variables, although statistically significant, contributed only 17% of the remaining variance. Different analysis results are presented in Table 4 for Group II, the advanced kindergarten group. Ten subtests reached statistical significance for inclusion in the stepwise analysis. The obtained R2 of .82 and the adjusted R2 of .81 in Step 10 indicated that 82% of the BTOT variance is accounted for by the ten subtests. Again, however, the majority of variance, 73%, is found in four subtests: opposites, nouns, auditory memory, and verb tense. It should be noted that two subtests, nouns and opposites, apparently contributed to the majority of the variance explained by each regression analysis. To determine whether relationships other than those described above existed, the correlations (Pearson “T”) of each subtest with each other subtest and the total score (BTOT) were examined for both Groups I and II. The intercorrelations of all subtests for Group I are presented in Table 5 and intercorrelations for Group II are presented in Table 6. With few exceptions, the correlations between subtests are generally low for Group I. Group II had more correlations reaching moderate values. However, the highest correlations for both groups were found between the BTOT and the BLST subtests. DISCUSSION The major finding of this investigation was that kindergarten experience does make an important difference in a child’s performance on expressive language screening tests such as the BLST. Even within a short time
Categories Function Prepositions Colors Opposites Pronouns Verb tense Plural Subject-verb Sentence repetition Visual match Visual association Auditory memory Auditory sequence BTOT
Verbs
Nouns
1.00 .47” .21” .23” .46” .44” .39” .33” .34” .41” .35” .33” .29” .37” .25” .29” .25” .63”
1
1.00 .26” .55” .47” .42” .60” .40” .46” .47” .56” .53” .34” .47” .28” .30” .17” .76”
2
1.00 .25” .24” .15 .16” .ll .30” .04 .24” .17” .04 .15” .12 .05 .32” .30”
3
1.00 .34” .25” .43” .30” .20” .26” .43” .32” .08 .27” .16” .20” .12 .50”
4
1.00 .36” .35” .26” .40” .36” .46” .36” .24” .35” .24” .30” .25” .58”
5
1 .oo .32” .39” .24” .46” .35” .38” .18” .33” .38” .32” .25” .62”
6
7
1.00 .45” .42” .47” .39” .50” .36” .44” .34” .42” .16” .71”
Matrix for BLST Subtests for Group I
” Significant at or above .05.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
1. Body part
Subtests
Table 5. Correlation
1.00 .35” .35” .42” .47” .34” .45” .37” .27” .28” .64”
8
1.00 .40” .45” .41” .25” .40” .26” .38” .21” .59”
9
1.00 .36” .45” .33” .33” .13 .59” .lO” .65”
10
1.00 .47” .33” .38” .31” .38” .22” .63”
11
1.00 .40” .50” .24” .31” .20” .69”
12
1.00 .27” .20” .41” .07 .53”
13
1.00 .40” .15 .14 .65”
14
1.00 .12 .17” .49”
15
1.00 .08 .50”
16
1.00 .34”
17
1.00
18
Correlation
Body part Nouns Verbs Categories Function Prepositions Colors Opposites Pronouns Verb tense Plural Subject-verb Sentence repetition Visual match Visual association Auditory memory Auditory sequence BTOT
Subtests
6.
1.00 .42 .39 .32 .38 .42 .44 .35 .30 .26 .26 .29 .30 .40 .22 .37 .17 .53
1
1.00 .40 .45 .44 .44 .44 .49 .s2 .46 .38 .39 .46 .53 .37 .35 .21 .67
2
1.00 .49 .40 .42 .32 .34 .31 .34 .34 .24 .31 .33 .24 .31 .38 .51
3
1 .oo .49 .47 .39 .50 .35 .53 .35 .41 .39 .44 .I5 .34 .32 .63
4
1.00 .45 .40 .47 .44 .40 .30 .33 .47 .48 .38 .54 .36 .62
5
1.00 .35 .54 .46 .34 .33 .35 .50 .47 .35 .49 .25 .64
6
1.00 .49 .39 .39 .37 .42 .45 .53 .33 .37 .20 .61
7
Matrix for BLST Subtests for Grow II”
a All correlations are significant at or above .OS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
Table
1.00 .46 .49 .49 .41 .47 .59 .36 .42 .25 .68
8
1.00 .50 .43 .46 .46 .45 .39 .44 .34 .65
9
1.00 .32 .46 .34 .43 .17 .27 .34 .63
10
1.00 .50 .35 .46 .20 .29 .16 .48
11
1.00 .40 .31 .28 .38 .32 .55
12
1.00 .44 .30 .41 .21 .60
13
1.00 .28 .36 .18 .66
14
1.00 .44 .22 .51
1.5
1.00 .26 .58
16
1.00 .43
17
1.00
18
EFFECT OF KINDERGARTEN
ON BANKSON
PERFORMANCE
477
period of five months there occurred a statistically significant enhancement of certain language performance skills for the Group II children. These children had significantly higher performance scores on seven of the BLST subtests when compared to Group I children. The general smaller standard deviations on the majority of the BLST subtests for Group II suggest that this group was becoming more homogeneous in its BLST responses because of kindergarten experience. The performance difference between the groups was further substantiated by the two dissimilar multiple regression patterns. Age, gender, and the interactions among these variables were not found to be significant factors. A second but unusual finding in this study was the difference shown between the regression analyses for each group. Fourteen of the 17 BLST subtests made significant contribution to the BTOT for the beginning kindergarten group (Group I), whereas only ten subtests reached significance (p < .Ol) for the advanced kindergarten group (Group II). This pattern disparity again suggests that the five months of kindergarten learning experience was very important in test-taking performance. In addition to the different performance patterns, an examination of both multiple regression analyses revealed that the BLST subtests were not equal in their contribution to the total score for this age group. It should be noted that for both groups the “noun” and “opposites” subtests accounted for the majority of the variance explained in both regression analyses. The major influence of these two subtests suggests a large semantic/cognitive component in the BLST’s test construction. Finally, the effect of kindergarten experience was not found to be influenced by age or gender differences or by any interaction effect among the three independent factors, i.e., no differences were found in BLST test performance between the younger and older subjects or between the genders. An important unanswered question in this investigation is whether or not the significant difference between the two groups is diagnostically significant. Comparison between the BLST subtests in Table 1 generally revealed less than a point spread between subtests for the two groups. The authors surmise that there is little diagnostic significance associated with this small spread of scores. However, if comparisons were made between the BTOT scores, then the eight-point difference might be diagnostically significant and a child could be improperly classified. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that even limited amounts of kindergarten experience can affect a child’s performance on a language screening test such as the BLST. The authors suggest that professionals should be cognizant of this fact when interpreting normreferenced tests for children of this age. We would further assume that any other norm-referenced standardized test similar to the BLST might be influenced in like manner.
478
Support Funds.
G. W. LARSON
for this project
was provided
by the University
of North
and P. A. SUMMERS
Texas Organized
Research
REFERENCES ASHA Committee on Audiometric audiometry. ASHA 17:94-99.
Evaluation
(1975). Guidelines for identification
ASHA Subcommittee,on Impedance Measurement (1978). Guidelines for acoustic immitance screening of middle-ear function. ASHA 21:283-288. Bankson, Park.
N. (1977). Bankson Language
Screening
Test. Baltimore:
University
Blaxley, L., Clinker, M., and Warr-Leeper, G. (1983). Two language screening tests compared with the Developmental Sentence Scoring. Lang. Speech Hear. Serv. Schools
14:79-85.
Bloom, L., and Lahey, M. (1978). Language orders. New York: Wiley.
Development
and Language
Dis-
Ervin-Tripp,
S. (1973). Some strategies for the first two years. In T. Moore (ed.), and the Acquisition of Language. New York: Academic Press. Cognitive Development
McCauley, R., and Swisher, L. (1984a). Psychometric review of language and articulation tests for preschool children. J. Speech Hear. Disord. 49:34-42. McCauley, R., and Swisher, L. (1984b). Use and misuse of norm-referenced tests in clinical assessment: A hypothetical case. J. Speech Hear. Disord. 49:338348.
0. (1986). Nature of Communication Disorders in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Population. San Diego: College-Hill Press.
Taylor,
Terrell, S., and Terrell, F. (1983). Distinguishing linguistic differences from disorders: The past, present, and future of nonbiased assessment. Top. Lang. Dev. 3: l-7.
Williams,
F. (1970). Language
and Poverty. Chicago: Markham.
THE EXPERIENTIAL EFFECT OF KINDERGARTENONBANKSONLANGUAGE SCREENING TEST PERFORMANCE GEORGE W. LARSON and PATRICIA A. SUMMERS University of North Texas
This investigation examined the effect of kindergarten experience on the performance of two groups of children on the Bankson Language Screening Test. One group of children was tested at the beginning of their kindergarten experience and a second group was tested live months later. Performance of the two groups on the Bankson was determined to be significantly different, independent of age. The different performance pattern for each group is described as well as the possible implications. There may be a need for different sets of language test norms for children with kindergarten experience and for children without this experience.
INTRODUCTION An important question for speech-language pathologists is the effect of children’s prior experiences on standardized language test performance. The relationship of language and cultural experience has often been demonstrated in the field of speech-language pathology (Bloom and Lahey, 1978; Williams, 1970; Taylor, 1986). This has led the profession during the last decade to become more aware of nonbiased assessment and the need to be more cautious in test interpretation (McCauly and Swisher, 1984a, b). Although the profession has paid particular attention to the cultural and linguistic differences among populations (ASHA, 1983; Terrell and Terrell, 1983), it has not, as a rule, explored other types of experiences and their effect on standardized test performance. One such important experience is kindergarten. In the United States the majority of children now have the opportunity to learn readiness skills before entering first grade. Yet there still remain a sizable number of children who do not have this educational opportunity. McCauly and Swisher (1984a, b) have cautioned that the validity and reliability of normreferenced tests can be easily compromised by the improper application Address correspondence to George W. Larson, Ph.D., Coordinator of Speech-Language Pathology, Division of Communication Disorders, University of North Texas, P. 0. Box 5008, Denton, TX 76203. 0 1988 by 6.55 Avenue
Elsevier
Science Publishing Co., Inc. of the Americas, New York, NY 10010
469 0021.9924/88/$3.50
470
G. W. LARSON
and P. A. SUMMERS
of test norms. If a test is used with a subject on which the test was not normed, then incorret inferences could be drawn from the child’s responses, resulting in inappropriate diagnosis and remediation. A similar circumstance could occur in the testing of children who have dissimilar exposure to learning-readiness skills. To our knowledge no standardized language test makes a distinction between the presence or absence of such experiences. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of kindergarten experiences on children’s performance on a standardized normreferenced language screening test. The Bankson Language Screening Test (BLST) (Bankson, 1977) was selected as the norm-referenced test because its various expressive subtests are thought to be important to language interventionists (Bankson, 1977, p. 1) and it seems to be generally accurate in the identification of language-impaired children (Blaxley et al., 1983). A screening test was chosen rather than a diagnostic language tool since clinicians frequently use this type of instrument with large groups of children. The effect of kindergarten was assessed by testing two groups of children: one group at the beginning of kindergarten and a second group five months after the beginning of kindergarten. In the present investigation, four experimental questions were asked: 1. Does five months of kindergarten learning experience significantly affect children’s scores on the BLST? 2. If differences are observed between kindergarten groups, are the differences due to age? 3. If differences are observed between kindergarten groups, are the differences due to gender? 4. If differences are observed, then which BLST subtest contribute(s) more to the total test score? METHODOLOGY Subjects A sample of 1,017 kindergarten-age children was selected from a large public school system in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Children tested within the first three weeks of enrollment in kindergarten were designated as Group I (N = 551). Children tested during their fifth month of kindergarten enrollment were designated as Group II (N = 466). Group I children had a mean age of 67 months with a standard deviation of 4 months and Group II children had a mean age of 72 months with a standard deviation of 4 months. Both groups of children came from the same schools and classrooms with kindergarten curriculum being the same for all children. Many children in the school district were bused in order to achieve a racial and enrollment balance across the district. Children of
EFFECT OF KINDERGARTEN
ON BANKSON PERFORMANCE
471
all economic status classifications were represented in each school. Thus selective sampling by school was not judged necessary. Subject selection criteria were as follows: 1. Being six years of age on or before September 1 of the next school year. 2. Having English as the primary language. 3. Passing a pure-tone and impedance screening test (ASHA 1975, 1978). 4. Having no voice, fluency, or phonological problem affecting speech intelligibility. 5. Completing all test items. The experimental design used in this investigation matched subjects in order to control for age and gender. Accordingly, 120 children (60 male and 60 female) were randomly selected from the original Group I. These Group I children were in turn matched by age and gender with 120 children selected from the original Group II sample. The criterion for age matching was that the birth date of the child from Group II be within 30 days of the birth date of the child from Group I. Age was further controlled by evenly dividing the 120 subjects in both Groups I and II between a younger group (age 60-66 months) and an older group (age 67-72 months). Hence each group sample had 60 younger subjects (30 male and 30 female) and 60 older subjects (30 male and 30 female). Procedures On arrival at the University of North Texas Speech and Hearing Center, the children were given pure-tone and impedance screening tests in order to ensure that all the children had normal hearing sensitivity. Each child was then administered the BLST individually in a separate room. The test was administered and scored in accordance with the procedures outlined in the test manual. Speech-language pathology graduate students of the Division of Communication Disorders at the University of North Texas tested the children. Prior to testing, the students were required to demonstrate correct test administration to faculty members. The testing situation was supervised by faculty members holding the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. RESULTS Group differences in BLST performance were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The 17 BLST subtests and the total score served as the dependent variables with kindergarten experi-
G. W. LARSON and P. A. SUMMERS
472
ence, age, and gender serving as independent variables (each factor having two levels). This 2 x 2 x 2 design allowed for the examination of the main effects (kindergarten experience, age, and gender) as well as twoand three-way interactions. In order that the main effects could be accurately interpreted, the interaction effects were examined first. The MANOVA results are presented in Table 1. No significant effects were obtained for any of the interactions among age, gender, and kindergarten experience or for the main effects of age and gender. However, main effects for kindergarten experience (F 18,215= 2.36, p < .002) were found to be highly significant. The investigators therefore concluded that the difference between the two groups in this investigation was due solely to kindergarten experience. Table 2 compares each BLST subtest as well as the total score (BTOT) for the two kindergarten groups. The mean scores and the standard deviations are presented for each group. Group II mean scores for each subtest were generally larger than the mean scores for Group I. Univariate F tests were made for all subtest comparisons. Seven subtests (nouns, categories, function, opposites, subject-verb, sentence repetition, and visual matching) and the BTOT revealed significant group differences. The observed score patterns supported the conclusion that Group II performance was consistently higher than the performance of Group I. In order to determine which subtests contributed more to the total score (BTOT) on the BLST, stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed for each group. For these analyses, the 17 BLST subtests served as predictor variables for the total Bankson performance score (BTOT). The results of the analysis for Group I are presented in Table 3. Fourteen subtests achieved statistical signficance for inclusion in the stepwise analysis. The obtained R* of .95 indicated that the 14 variables accounted for nearly 95% of the total BTOT variance. An adjusted R2 value of .94 in step 14 gave evidence of little upward bias in R2. Examination of the R2
Table 1. MANOVA Results for the Effects of Age, Gender, and Kindergarten Experience on Kindergarten-Age Children’s Performance on the BLST F Test
Probability
Effect
Hotelling’s p
df
Kindergarten by
.0772
18,215
.92251
.552
age by gender Age by gender Kindergarten by
.0701 .0742
18,215 18,215
.83710 .88636
.655 .596
gender Kindergarten by
.04648
18,215
.55515
,928
age Age Gender Kindergarten
.11275 .13353 .19744
18,215 18,215 18,215
1.34677 1.59500 2.35827
.161 .063 .002
EFFECT
OF KINDERGARTEN
ON BANKSON
473
PERFORMANCE
Table 2. Mean and Standard
Deviation for Each Subtest and the Total Score of the BLST for Both Groups I and II with Univariate F Tests Between Groups for Each Subtest Group I N = 120 BLST Subtests Body parts Nouns Verbs Categories Functions Prepositions Colors/quantity Opposites Pronouns Verb tense Plural/comparative/superlative Subject-verb agreement/negation Sentence repetition/judgment Visual matching/discrimination Visual association/sequencing Auditory memory Auditory sequencing/discrimination BLST total score
Group II N = 120
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
F Tests (df = 1,232)
1.63 6.44 7.82 5.42 7.02 4.77 7.11 2.09 6.40 5.65 4.63 5.97 5.45 5.57 6.26 6.44 6.95 101.82
1.55 1.83 1.08 1.73 1.71 2.13 1.91 2.56 1.61 2.26 1.54 2.25 2.08 2.10 1.65 1.41 1.42 19.29
7.95 7.00 8.00 6.07 7.83 5.06 7.35 3.83 6.65 5.78 4.75 6.79 6.12 6.17 6.65 6.65 7.20 109.81
1.14 1.64 1.16 1.64 1.32 2.37 1.54 2.79 1.79 2.40 1.66 2.01 1.90 2.16 1.69 1.55 1.49 22.81
3.49 6.13” 1.57 8.86” 17.01* .95 1.15 13.86’ 1.26 .19 .36 9.02’ 6.64“ 4.60’ 3.26 1.18 1.78 8.46”
“p < .Ol. bp < ,001. c p < .05.
Table 3. Group I Children:
Summary Statistics for the Multiple-Regression Analysis Involving Stepwise Selection of BLST Subtests as Predictors for BLST Total Score Step
Variable entered
R2
R2 change
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Nouns Opposites Verb tense Visual association Body parts Subject verb Sentence repetition Visual matching Auditory sequence Category Pronoun Prepositions Color Function
.58 .71 .78 .82 .85 .88 .89 .90 .91 .92 .93 .94 .95 .955
.58 .13 .07 .04 .03 .03 .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .Ol .005
df
F Test
1,118 2,117 3,116 4,115 5,114 6,113 7,112 8,111 9,112 10,113 11,114 12,115 13,116 14,117
161.54 143.97 136.49 132.23 133.58 140.98 136.26 131.97 131.4b 133.53 134.32 141.52 146.62 141.24
Significance
p < .OOOl .oOOl .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .OOOl p < .oOOl p c .OOOl pc.0001 p<.OOO1 p<.OOOl p<.OOOl p<.OOOl
p <
p <
474
G. W. LARSON
and P. A. SUMMERS
Table 4. Group II Children: Summary Statistics for the Multiple-Regression Analysis Involving Stepwise Selection of BLST Subtests as Predictors for BLST Total Scores R2
Step
Variable entered
RZ
change
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Opposites Nouns Auditory memory Verb tense Prepositions Color Auditory sequencing Visual association Visual matching Categories
.47 .61 .68 .?3 .76 .77 .80 .81 .82 ,825
.47 .14 .07 .OS .03 .Ol .03 .Ol .Ol ,005
df
F Test
1,118 2,117 3,116 4,115 5,114 6,113 7,112 8,111 9,110 10.109
102.87 91.00 82.49 79.32 71.96 68.58 64.32 58.82 56.56 53.65
Significance p p p p p p
< < < < < <
.OOOl .OOOl .OOOl .OOOl .OOOl .OOOl
p p p p
< < < <
.0001 .0001 .OOOl .OOOl
change, however, revealed 82% of the variance to be vested in four variables: nouns, opposites, verb tense, and visual association. The remaining 11. variables, although statistically significant, contributed only 17% of the remaining variance. Different analysis results are presented in Table 4 for Group II, the advanced kindergarten group. Ten subtests reached statistical significance for inclusion in the stepwise analysis. The obtained R2 of .82 and the adjusted R2 of .81 in Step 10 indicated that 82% of the BTOT variance is accounted for by the ten subtests. Again, however, the majority of variance, 73%, is found in four subtests: opposites, nouns, auditory memory, and verb tense. It should be noted that two subtests, nouns and opposites, apparently contributed to the majority of the variance explained by each regression analysis. To determine whether relationships other than those described above existed, the correlations (Pearson “T”) of each subtest with each other subtest and the total score (BTOT) were examined for both Groups I and II. The intercorrelations of all subtests for Group I are presented in Table 5 and intercorrelations for Group II are presented in Table 6. With few exceptions, the correlations between subtests are generally low for Group I. Group II had more correlations reaching moderate values. However, the highest correlations for both groups were found between the BTOT and the BLST subtests. DISCUSSION The major finding of this investigation was that kindergarten experience does make an important difference in a child’s performance on expressive language screening tests such as the BLST. Even within a short time
Categories Function Prepositions Colors Opposites Pronouns Verb tense Plural Subject-verb Sentence repetition Visual match Visual association Auditory memory Auditory sequence BTOT
Verbs
Nouns
1.00 .47” .21” .23” .46” .44” .39” .33” .34” .41” .35” .33” .29” .37” .25” .29” .25” .63”
1
1.00 .26” .55” .47” .42” .60” .40” .46” .47” .56” .53” .34” .47” .28” .30” .17” .76”
2
1.00 .25” .24” .15 .16” .ll .30” .04 .24” .17” .04 .15” .12 .05 .32” .30”
3
1.00 .34” .25” .43” .30” .20” .26” .43” .32” .08 .27” .16” .20” .12 .50”
4
1.00 .36” .35” .26” .40” .36” .46” .36” .24” .35” .24” .30” .25” .58”
5
1 .oo .32” .39” .24” .46” .35” .38” .18” .33” .38” .32” .25” .62”
6
7
1.00 .45” .42” .47” .39” .50” .36” .44” .34” .42” .16” .71”
Matrix for BLST Subtests for Group I
” Significant at or above .05.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
1. Body part
Subtests
Table 5. Correlation
1.00 .35” .35” .42” .47” .34” .45” .37” .27” .28” .64”
8
1.00 .40” .45” .41” .25” .40” .26” .38” .21” .59”
9
1.00 .36” .45” .33” .33” .13 .59” .lO” .65”
10
1.00 .47” .33” .38” .31” .38” .22” .63”
11
1.00 .40” .50” .24” .31” .20” .69”
12
1.00 .27” .20” .41” .07 .53”
13
1.00 .40” .15 .14 .65”
14
1.00 .12 .17” .49”
15
1.00 .08 .50”
16
1.00 .34”
17
1.00
18
Correlation
Body part Nouns Verbs Categories Function Prepositions Colors Opposites Pronouns Verb tense Plural Subject-verb Sentence repetition Visual match Visual association Auditory memory Auditory sequence BTOT
Subtests
6.
1.00 .42 .39 .32 .38 .42 .44 .35 .30 .26 .26 .29 .30 .40 .22 .37 .17 .53
1
1.00 .40 .45 .44 .44 .44 .49 .s2 .46 .38 .39 .46 .53 .37 .35 .21 .67
2
1.00 .49 .40 .42 .32 .34 .31 .34 .34 .24 .31 .33 .24 .31 .38 .51
3
1 .oo .49 .47 .39 .50 .35 .53 .35 .41 .39 .44 .I5 .34 .32 .63
4
1.00 .45 .40 .47 .44 .40 .30 .33 .47 .48 .38 .54 .36 .62
5
1.00 .35 .54 .46 .34 .33 .35 .50 .47 .35 .49 .25 .64
6
1.00 .49 .39 .39 .37 .42 .45 .53 .33 .37 .20 .61
7
Matrix for BLST Subtests for Grow II”
a All correlations are significant at or above .OS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
Table
1.00 .46 .49 .49 .41 .47 .59 .36 .42 .25 .68
8
1.00 .50 .43 .46 .46 .45 .39 .44 .34 .65
9
1.00 .32 .46 .34 .43 .17 .27 .34 .63
10
1.00 .50 .35 .46 .20 .29 .16 .48
11
1.00 .40 .31 .28 .38 .32 .55
12
1.00 .44 .30 .41 .21 .60
13
1.00 .28 .36 .18 .66
14
1.00 .44 .22 .51
1.5
1.00 .26 .58
16
1.00 .43
17
1.00
18
EFFECT OF KINDERGARTEN
ON BANKSON
PERFORMANCE
477
period of five months there occurred a statistically significant enhancement of certain language performance skills for the Group II children. These children had significantly higher performance scores on seven of the BLST subtests when compared to Group I children. The general smaller standard deviations on the majority of the BLST subtests for Group II suggest that this group was becoming more homogeneous in its BLST responses because of kindergarten experience. The performance difference between the groups was further substantiated by the two dissimilar multiple regression patterns. Age, gender, and the interactions among these variables were not found to be significant factors. A second but unusual finding in this study was the difference shown between the regression analyses for each group. Fourteen of the 17 BLST subtests made significant contribution to the BTOT for the beginning kindergarten group (Group I), whereas only ten subtests reached significance (p < .Ol) for the advanced kindergarten group (Group II). This pattern disparity again suggests that the five months of kindergarten learning experience was very important in test-taking performance. In addition to the different performance patterns, an examination of both multiple regression analyses revealed that the BLST subtests were not equal in their contribution to the total score for this age group. It should be noted that for both groups the “noun” and “opposites” subtests accounted for the majority of the variance explained in both regression analyses. The major influence of these two subtests suggests a large semantic/cognitive component in the BLST’s test construction. Finally, the effect of kindergarten experience was not found to be influenced by age or gender differences or by any interaction effect among the three independent factors, i.e., no differences were found in BLST test performance between the younger and older subjects or between the genders. An important unanswered question in this investigation is whether or not the significant difference between the two groups is diagnostically significant. Comparison between the BLST subtests in Table 1 generally revealed less than a point spread between subtests for the two groups. The authors surmise that there is little diagnostic significance associated with this small spread of scores. However, if comparisons were made between the BTOT scores, then the eight-point difference might be diagnostically significant and a child could be improperly classified. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that even limited amounts of kindergarten experience can affect a child’s performance on a language screening test such as the BLST. The authors suggest that professionals should be cognizant of this fact when interpreting normreferenced tests for children of this age. We would further assume that any other norm-referenced standardized test similar to the BLST might be influenced in like manner.
478
Support Funds.
G. W. LARSON
for this project
was provided
by the University
of North
and P. A. SUMMERS
Texas Organized
Research
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