Reducing test bias through dynamic assessment of children's word learning ability

This study examined the performance of preschool children from culturally a nd linguistically diverse backgrounds, both typically developing and with l ow language ability, on a word-learning task. A pretest-teach-posttest meth od was used to compare a mediation group to a no-mediation group. Children in the mediation group were taught naming strategies using mediated learnin g experience (MLE). Results indicated that typically developing and low lan guage ability children were differentiated on the basis of pretest-posttest change and that dynamic measures (e.g., posttest scores of single-word lab eling and modifiability ratings from the mediation sessions) predicted the ability groups better than static measures (e.g., pretest scores of single- word labeling, description, and academic concepts). These results suggest t hat dynamic assessment approaches may effectively differentiate language di fference from language disorder.