A recent study conducted by researchers in Sweden
The study examined 877,000 Swedish children comparing their post-birth APGAR scores, their academic grades and graduation rate. The study found a relationship between having an APGAR score below 7 and having cognitive deficits later in life. The researchers believe this is an important finding because gaining a better understanding of the relationship may provide insight into what early problems may cause those deficits. They argue that understanding why the APGAR score is low may aid them with understanding how future brain function may be impacted[ii]
The study found that children with an APGAR score of 7 or below were less likely to attend the special admissions/elite academic schools and more likely to receive special education services than students who have a APGAR Score of 8 or higher[iii]. The researchers noted that parents should not panic since most infants with APGAR scores 7 or below did “fine” with 1 in 44 infants requiring special education services.
The Swedish study could provide some helpful information that could be used to develop a system that connects families of infants with APGAR scores 7 or below with the formal education system. Currently, infants who do not have severe deficits are not involved with the formal education system until they become close to school age. When a child with deficits nears formal school age, the child is eligible for Early Intervention services as part of State and Federal Child Find mandate.
Child Find mandates that a school district notify parents of children who have been identified with deficits as infants can receive an evaluation and services to support school readiness when they turn 4 years old and are nearing the age of entrance into formal schooling. Early Intervention services evaluate students, develops and implements school readiness supports plans to decrease any physical, psychological and social deficits that may provide a barrier to learning. Early Intervention services also assist children with how to manage their disability when they enter the formal school setting and they also provide the child with basic advocacy tools.
The Swedish APGAR study has provided some promising data that still needs further examination. The study has however, created a renewed discourse into how infants with deficits can be helped to decrease barriers to learning that will help them become successful in their teenage/high school years and beyond.
The study may also be beneficial to the advocates who are leading the efforts to decrease the achievement gap among poor children. With the health and socio-economic disparities in poor communities, poor children are more likely to have some physical, psychological, and social deficits that impede learning. This study may provide the break through these advocates need to increase the APGAR scores and close the achievement gap among poor children.
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