Transfer from primary school to secondary school
55% of the variance, with receptive and expressive vocabulary, receptive grammar and
narrative loading at or above .75 on the factor. Thus in Year 3 the children fell within
the category of children with specific language difficulties with problems evident in both
expressive and receptive language.
All children were contacted in the year prior to transfer to secondary school
(Year 6) but two families with male children did not want to participate in the interview
and assessment phase of the project. Information was available about school placement
and national curriculum tests for all children.
Comparison groups
Two matched peers were identified from the same class as the children with
SSLD for children in the mainstream sample: a matched typically developing peer at an
average level for reading, maths and science (TDgroup N=42) and a matched child who
had special needs in terms of general learning difficulties but not speech and language
needs and was on the same stage of the Code of Practice (SENgroup N=32).
Procedure
Year 6 - Pre transfer
In the spring of Year 6 the teachers and SENCOs completed an interview
schedule for each child. In addition the children and parents of all three cohorts were
approached to participate in an interview. All three cohorts completed standardised
assessments of reading decoding and numeracy. In addition the SSLD cohort completed
a battery of language measures to assess the extent of their language problems at this
point in time (see measures section).
Year 7 - Post transfer