Listening Inventories for Education Revised (LIFE-R)

This is a behavioural tool used to verify the quality of the classroom listening environment from the standpoint of an individual student.

It can:

• provide a student self-report measurement tool to identify classroom situations which present a listening challenge for individual students
• provide a teacher report measurement tool to be used to document the effects of interventions to improve the listening environment of a particular student
• provide a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be used in a pre-test and post-test format to document the effectiveness of interventions used to improve the classroom listening environment
• provide material that can be used for servicing school personnel regarding student challenges when listening in the classroom
• help the teacher and students with information to encourage self-advocacy skill building.

The expanded LIFE-Revised is comprised of two tools: a) Student LIFE-R: Student Appraisal of Listening Difficulty and b) Teacher LIFE-R: Teacher Appraisal of Listening Difficulty. The student LIFE-R and the teacher LIFE-R are meant to be used together as the tools provide a means to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom interventions and provide a framework for self-advocacy. Either of the tools can also be used alone, depending on the depth of information needed.

Age range

7–14 years

Who can use it?

Audiologists, educational audiologists, speech and language therapists and Teachers of the Deaf.

How is it used?

It’s used with the child or young person in interview style, to elicit their views.

There are 18 illustrated questions each describing a situation within school and the child must say how well they are able to hear in each situation using a five point scale, e.g. “The teacher has asked a question to the whole class. Someone behind you is giving an answer. You need to hear the answer. How well can you hear the words?”

It’s available in both electronic and paper formats. The photographs are designed to depict difficult listening situations found in the classroom setting. The first ten questions and photographs describe various classroom listening situations. The last five photographs and questions describe additional listening and social situations that may also occur in school, but not necessarily in the classroom.

What does it give us?

This assessment gives teachers a full picture of how well the child is listening in the classroom. It’s a good tool to open up discussion about problems with listening at school, providing useful information about the student’s own views in the classroom. The LIFE-UK Individual Hearing Profile (IHP) is designed to be used in its printed form, the pictures forming an essential tool for eliciting a response. It’s therefore recommended that a printed copy is given to each child when carrying out the test.

Pros

• Up to date photographs.
• Automatic scoring and report generation is possible when using the electronic format.
• Student information is collected during the administration of the electronic version of the LIFE-R for the purpose of individualisation of the following reports This is very quick and easy.
• Available in many languages.
• Much more modern than the previous LIFE-UK paper version.

Cons

• Use of American rather than UK terminology e.g. ASL rather than BSL.
• Photographs show children in primary school – might be difficult to use with older students.

Is there a cost? 

No.

Where can I access it?

You can download the assessment from the Success for Kids With Hearing Loss website.