Intellectual abilities in preschool children and later school achievement

Abstract

Intellectual abilities are an important pre-requisite in learning and are dominant in our system of schooling. The aim of this work is to investigate the correlation between measures of intelligence in preschool children and subsequent school achievement, taking into consideration gender and the stage of primary education (the earlier and the later years). Subjects and methods: The sample consisted of 177 preschool children in the year before starting school (102 boys and 75 girls), of which 160 were followed-up until the end of their primary education. Intelligence was measured by the Goodenough „Draw a man“ test (GOOD), Bender visual gestalt test (LB), Kohs block design test (KOHS) and the verbal part of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC). Their school achievement was measured by an average of average of school grades for earlier years (PRONIZI) and later years (PROVISI). Results: The correlation between intelligence measures and school grades indicated gender variations throughout schooling. The majority of statistically significant correlation coefficients had relatively higher values in boys compared with girls, and in earlier years compared with later ones for both genders. Verbal scale results (WISC) had consistently higher correlations, but neurophysiological maturity (KOHS and LB results) was also important, especially in boys.