General Education Teachers' Contribution to the Identification of Children With Language Disorders

Purpose The estimated prevalence of language disorders in early elementary school-age children is 7%–12%. Despite its prevalence, only 18% of children are identified and receive treatment. Children with language disorders who go unidentified and, consequently, untreated upon entry to kindergarten are at a cumulative risk for academic and social difficulties during their formative and later school years. Since there is no policy supporting universal screening for language impairment identification in public schools, vulnerabilities may exist in referral-based systems for language impairment identification. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the positive predictive value of general education teachers for language impairment identification. Method A record review of special education referrals across four elementary schools was conducted. A total of 177 referrals across all disabilities were examined. Forty-four of those language-based referrals became the focus of this study. Results Results showed, of the 44 referred for language impairment, general education teachers were the least correct of referral sources, with a positive predictive value of .35. Variables of teacher age, sex, years of teaching experience, and years of education did not predict general education teachers' ability to identify children with language impairment. The identification rate across the four schools was 1.38%. Conclusions General education teachers were responsible for nearly half of the referrals made to special education but demonstrated the most difficulty in correctly identifying children with language impairment. As a result, identification rates were considerably lower than prevalence expectations. This is of particular concern as teachers play a primary role in the identification of this population under a referral-based format.