Exploratory Study of First Grader\u27s Language Development in Correlation with their Socioeconomics Status

Language samples are an efficient way to measure students\u27 language abilities and to identify children who may have language difficulties. The purpose of this study is to find a correlation between the 1st grade students\u27 language development based off of scoring from a developed rubric and the students\u27 scores on the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS) and Northwestern Educational Assessment (NWEA). Language samples were collected by researchers at an elementary school in a rural town in the Midwest. A standardized language assessment, OWLS, was also collected. Information was obtained from the school regarding socioeconomic status (SES) and NWEA scores. Research has found that SES correlates to language input the child receives from their home environment, which impacts their language skills. Twenty-nine 1st grade students\u27 language samples were analyzed based on a rubric that assessed the areas of engagement, organization, voice, language use, and fluency. Results indicate that there are significant differences between children from low SES compared to children who are not across the OWLS and NWEA assessments, but not the total rubric scores. Assessments were not correlated with each other