Have you ever had someone tell you that you cannot give tests standardized on typical hearing children to DHH students? I have been told that. Here is one study that refutes that claim for two tests.
Mi-young Webb, Amy Lederberg, Measuring Phonological Awareness in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children, Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, published July 30, 2013 Retrieved 11/9/13
This study had two purposes: to evaluate the psychometric properties of two standardized tests of phonological awareness and to provide a detailed description of phonological awareness in DHH children with functional hearing. The 2 tests used were 4 subtests of the Phonological Awareness Test-2 (PAT-2) and the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL). Age range of the 108 children was 3 years 9 months to 7 years 11 months. All of the children were in self-contained DHH classes so no mainstreamed children were in the study. The children were assessed twice with both tests – once in the spring and once in the fall.
Results:
- Both tests showed good psychometric properties.
- Both tests were appropriate to use with DHH children.
- DHH children developed phonological awareness skills in the same sequence as typically hearing children. For the population in self-contained DHH classes the rate was much slower.
- Direct instruction improves DHH children’s phonological awareness just as for typical hearing children.
Why is this important? This is evidenced-based information that:
- the PAT-2 and TOPEL are appropriate to use to measure phonological awareness of DHH children with functional hearing
- instruction in phonological awareness is evidenced-based for DHH children.
What I wished they included? A measure of cognitive abilities
Why? This has a tremendous influence on phonological skills.
What test do you give to assess phonological awareness?
Thanks for reading,
Monica Faherty
