Testing Very Preterm Black Children to Examine Potential Assessment Bias in Two Language Tests.
Lauren Prather, Nancy Creaghead, Jennifer Vannest and 5 others
PMID 41050289WHAT IT FOUND
Very preterm Black toddlers scored similarly to White toddlers on two early language tests.
Parent reports of vocabulary showed no significant difference, though Black children had lower mean scores. Use both direct observation and parent report to capture nonverbal communication styles.
Key findings
01Black and White very preterm children showed no significant differences in CSBS total or cluster scaled scores.
02Parent-reported CDI vocabulary scores did not differ significantly between groups, despite lower means for Black children.
03Correlations between parent report and direct assessment differed by race, suggesting cultural factors influence how children express language.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Small sample size, particularly for Black children (n=18). Participants were all very preterm, so findings may not apply to full-term children. Some parents did not complete the CDI questionnaire, reducing the sample for those analyses. Scorers were familiar with the study and included authors, which may have influenced scoring. Maternal education matching was imperfect due to demographic differences.
Declared interests
The first, third, fourth, and seventh authors are employed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The study was approved by the CCHMC Institutional Review Board.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of significant differences as proof that these tests are free from cultural bias. The small sample size and specific population (very preterm) limit generalizability, and the varying correlations between tests suggest that cultural factors still influence assessment outcomes.