Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Certain eye conditions in children may affect performance on timed, standardized tests




Impairment caused by lazy eye (amblyopia) or crossed eyes (strabismus) may affect the speed with which a child can mark answers with a pencil on a multiple-choice answer form.

In a new study, children with eye conditions commonly referred to as lazy eye and crossed eyes were slower at marking answers on multiple-choice answer forms typically used in timed, standardized tests.

85 school-age children (average age 10): 47 children with lazy eye, 18 children who had been treated for crossed eyes, and 20 children without these conditions for comparison; study conducted from May 2014 to November 2017.

Children were asked to transfer the pre-marked correct answers from a standardized reading achievement test booklet to a multiple-choice answer form as quickly as possible without making mistakes or reading the text (exposures); time to complete the task (outcome).


Children with lazy eye or crossed eyes required approximately 28 percent more time to complete a 40 question multiple-choice answer sheet than children without eye conditions.

No comments: