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Third-grade school performance in children with special healthcare needs: a prospective cohort study
Jennifer Schlecht1, Jochem König1, Stefan Kuhle1,2
1Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Insights
Children with special healthcare needs (SHCN) experience poorer academic performance. Emerging and persistent SHCN significantly impact school grades, highlighting the need for early assessment and intervention.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Educational Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Children with special healthcare needs (SHCN) often face academic challenges.
- Chronic health conditions can negatively affect school performance in primary school children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of past, current, transient, emerging, and persistent SHCN on school performance.
- To analyze the association between the timing of SHCN and academic achievement in primary school.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the German prospective cohort study ikidS.
- Administered the Children with SHCN screener at multiple time points (before school, end of grades 1 and 3).
- Calculated average school grades (German, maths, science) and used mixed linear regression models for analysis.
Main Results:
- 21% of 751 children experienced SHCN.
- Children with any SHCN showed poorer school performance compared to those without.
- Emerging and persistent SHCN were significantly associated with lower average grades.
Conclusions:
- Current, emerging, and persistent SHCN negatively affect academic performance in primary school children.
- Regular SHCN assessment during school age is recommended.
- Timely interventions can mitigate the adverse effects of chronic conditions on academic achievement.
Objective:
Children with special healthcare needs (SHCN) due to a chronic health condition perform more poorly at school compared with their classmates. We aimed to estimate the effects of past, current, transient, emerging and persistent SHCN on school performance in primary school children.
Methods:
Data from the German population-based prospective cohort study ikidS were used. The children withSHCN screener was administered before school entry (T1) and at the end of first (T2) and third grade (T3). Grades for German, maths and science (range: 1 (Very Good) to 6 (Failure)) were obtained at the end of third grade (age 8-9 years), and an average grade was calculated. Associations between the timing of SHCN and average grade were estimated by mixed linear regression models adjusted for potential confounding variables.
Results:
751 children were included, and 21% had ever SHCN. Children with ever SHCN had poorer school performance than children with never SHCN (adjusted mean difference in average grade [95% CI]: 0.17 [0.06; 0.28]). SHCN in the third year were associated with a poorer average grade (0.29 [0.16; 0.41]) compared with healthy children. Only emerging (0.31 [0.15; 0.48]) and persistent (0.25 [0.07; 0.43]) SHCN were associated with average grade.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates the negative effect of current, emerging and persistent SHCN on academic performance in primary school children. Consequently, students should be regularly assessed for SHCN during school age. Timely interventions may help reduce the adverse effects of chronic health conditions on academic achievements in childhood.
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