Dynamic Assessment of Diverse Children: A Tutorial

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Psychology
• Education

Background:

• Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children often face challenges with traditional standardized testing.
• Dynamic assessment (DA) is proposed as an alternative or supplement for evaluating CLD children.
• Existing DA methods show variability, with limited guidance on differentiating language disorder from language difference.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare different dynamic assessment (DA) methods and their applications.
• To present a recommended assessment protocol for distinguishing language disorder from language difference.
• To illustrate the utility of the protocol using case examples of Spanish-English bilingual children.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of various dynamic assessment (DA) techniques.
• Description of a specific assessment protocol designed for language disorder identification.
• Application of the protocol to case studies involving bilingual children.

Main Results:

• Variability exists across dynamic assessment (DA) methods, impacting their suitability for CLD populations.
• The proposed protocol provides a framework for differentiating language disorder from language difference.
• Case examples demonstrate the protocol's effectiveness in assessing language-learning potential and reducing misdiagnosis.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic assessment (DA) holds promise for evaluating CLD children, but method selection is crucial.
• The presented protocol can aid clinicians in accurately identifying language disorders versus differences.
• Minimizing misdiagnosis in bilingual children is achievable with appropriate assessment strategies.