Huge study debunks myths about preemies’ educational outcomes

A large-scale study of 1.3 million babies has shown that educational outcomes for premature babies are more promising than was previously believed.

Although many mums and dads of preemies worry that their children might struggle in school, findings from a new large-scale study - published yesterday - should reassure parents. Researchers from the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University and Northwestern Medicine analysed data from more than 1.3 million babies born with gestational ages between 23 and 41 weeks. The study found that two-thirds of babies born at only 23 or 24 weeks were school-ready on time, and almost two percent achieved 'educationally gifted' status in school. While extremely premature babies often scored low on standardised tests, preterm infants born at 25 weeks or later performed only slightly lower than full-term babies. In fact, as the length of pregnancy increased after 28 weeks, the differences in test scores were insignificant. The longitudinal study used data from babies born in Florida from 1992 to 2002, who later entered Florida public schools between 1995 and 2012. The scientists matched the babies' vital statistic records with their Florida public school records to examine the association between being born early and educational performance. Dr Craig Garfield, lead researcher and professor of paediatrics at Northwestern University, says the size of the study sets the findings apart:

"What excites me about this study is that it changes the focus for the clinician and families at the bedside from just focusing on the medical outcomes of the child to what the future educational outcomes might be for a child born early. Many studies look at premature babies but very few of them look at their educational outcomes into middle school in such a large population. What's special about this study is it speaks to the importance of administrative data sets and the ability to combine different data sets in ways that allow us to ask questions and get answers about how our children are doing in the long-run."

David Figlio, co-author and director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, says it's good news overall for the parents of preemies:

"While some people might be troubled that very premature infants tend to score well below their full-term peers on standardised tests, I believe that the glass is more than half-full. Most infants born at 23 to 24 weeks still demonstrate a high degree of cognitive functioning at the start of school and throughout."

Dr Garfield, who is also an attending paediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Chicago, says that their future work in this area will focus on what parents and service providers can do to help premature children achieve their full potential.