Reading Proficiency Trends Following Newborn Hearing Screening Implementation

To investigate trends in population-level school-aged reading scores among students with hearing loss in an urban Colorado school district after implementation of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) and Early Hearing Detection and Intervention.

The final sample included 1422 assessments conducted during the 2000-2001 through 2013-2014 school years for 321 children with hearing loss in grades 3 through 10. Longitudinal hierarchical linear modeling analyses were used to examine reading proficiency (controlling for birth year, grade in school, free and reduced lunch status, additional disability services, and English not spoken in the home). The Colorado Student Assessment Program was administered to students in third through 10th grades throughout the state. The test years chosen included children born before and after implementation of UNHS.

After implementation of UNHS, significant longitudinal reading proficiency improvements were observed by birth year and grade overall and for all subgroups. However, gains in reading proficiency were substantially less for children eligible for free and reduced lunch and those with moderate-severe to profound hearing loss. With each succeeding birth cohort and grade, increased numbers of children participated in testing because of improved language skills, with higher proportions identified as proficient or advanced readers.

Notable improvements in reading proficiency after Early Hearing Detection and Intervention implementation were demonstrated, as all groups of children with hearing loss became more likely to achieve proficient and advanced reading levels. On the other hand, some disparities increased, with greater improvements in reading proficiency for children in economically advantaged families.