Visual Skills Have A Role In Predicting Academic Performance.

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between specific measures of visual skills and academic performance among school age children. Goal is to determine whether or not low academic achievement correlates with specific visual skills deficits. Method: A total of 60 sixth graders were evaluated on their stereopsis, accommodative facility, near phoria, and Developmental Eye Movements test. The sampling between genders was randomized. Thirty students with high academic achievement evidenced by accelerated placement in math, science, or language arts within the school were selected as the control group. Thirty students with below average achievement based on teachers assessments and scoring 4th grade level or below on the Developmental Reading Assessment test independently administered by the school were selected as the research group. Relative academic achievement was made blind to the experimenter prior to the measure of visual skills. Teachers were masked to the student performances on the visual testing. Results: Subjects with both high DEM ratio and high rate of errors combined had low achievement at 2 times the rate of those with high academic achievement. Phoric posture alone had no predictive value for low academic achievement for any magnitude in this study. Subjects with intermittent exotropia at near had low achievement at 2 times the rate of those with high academic achievement. Subjects with reduced accommodative facility had low academic achievement at 4.33 times the rate of those with high academic achievement. Subjects with reduced stereopsis had low academic achievement at 1.5 times the rate of those with high academic achievement. Subjects wearing glasses had high achievement at 3.67 times the rate of those with low academic achievement. Conclusions: Visual skills have an impact on academic performance. Ocular-motor skills, intermittent exotropia at near, and accommodative facility seem to have greater influences than phoric posture or stereopsis.