Dynamic Testing, Working Memory, and Reading Comprehension Growth in Children With Reading Disabilities

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Lee Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Disabilities ◽  
Dynamic Testing ◽  
Verbal Iq ◽  
Only Children ◽  
Testing Conditions ◽  
Skilled Readers ◽  
Reading Measures ◽  
Significant Moderator

This longitudinal study assessed (a) whether performance changes in working memory (WM) as a function of dynamic testing were related to growth in reading comprehension and (b) whether WM performance among subgroups of children with reading disabilities (RD; children with RD only, children with both reading and arithmetic deficits, and low verbal IQ readers) varied as a function of dynamic testing. A battery of memory and reading measures was administered to 78 children (11.6 years) across three testing waves spaced 1 year apart. WM tasks were presented under initial and dynamic testing conditions (referred to as gain and maintenance testing). The important results were that (a) WM performance as a function of maintenance testing was a significant moderator of growth in reading comprehension and (b) WM performance of children with RD was statistically comparable within subgroups of RD but inferior to that of skilled readers across all testing conditions. The results support the notion that children’s WM performance under dynamic testing conditions was related to the rate of growth in reading comprehension but unrelated to subgroup differences in reading.

Does the Dynamic Testing of Working Memory Predict Growth in Nonword Fluency and Vocabulary in Children With Reading Disabilities?

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Lee Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Disabilities ◽  
Dynamic Testing ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Only Children ◽  
Testing Conditions ◽  
Skilled Readers ◽  
Curve Modeling ◽  
Reading Measures ◽  
One Year

This three-year longitudinal study assessed whether working memory (WM performance) when tested under dynamic testing conditions is related to growth on measures of phonological awareness and vocabulary in skilled readers and subgroups of children with reading disabilities (RD) (children with RD-only, children with both reading and arithmetic deficits, and low verbal IQ readers). A battery of memory and reading measures was administered to 78 children (11.6 yrs) across three testing waves spaced one year apart. WM tasks were presented under initial, gain, and maintenance testing conditions. The important results were (1) growth curve modeling showed that WM performance administered under initial and maintenance testing conditions was a significant moderator of growth in receptive vocabulary, whereas the number of probes and WM performance under gain testing conditions were significant moderators of growth in nonword fluency and (2) WM performance was statistically comparable within subgroups of children with RD, but inferior to skilled readers across all testing conditions. The results support the notion that children’s WM performance when measured under dynamic testing conditions was related to the rate of growth on basic reading and vocabulary measures.

Children with Reading Disabilities: Does Dynamic Assessment Help in the Classification?

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Lee Swanson ◽  
Crystal B. Howard
Keyword(s):  
Reading Disabilities ◽  
Dynamic Testing ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Poor Readers ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Testing Conditions ◽  
Skilled Readers ◽  
Unique Variance ◽  
And Mathematics

This study was conducted to determine whether the cognitive performance of reading disabled and poor readers can be separated under dynamic assessment procedures, and whether measures related to dynamic assessment add unique variance, beyond IQ, in predicting reading achievement scores. The sample consisted of 70 children (39 females and 31 males). Within this sample four groups of children were compared: children with reading disabilities ( n=12), children with math/reading disabilities ( n=19), poor readers ( n=14), and skilled readers ( n=25). Intelligence, reading and math tests, and verbal working memory (WM) measures were administered (presented under static and dynamic testing conditions). Two important findings emerged: (a) hierarchical regression analyses found that a dynamic assessment measure factor score contributed unique variance to predicting reading and mathematics, beyond what is attributed to verbal IQ and initial scores related to WM; and (b) poor readers and skilled readers were more likely to change and maintain their WM score gained under the dynamic testing conditions than children with reading disabilities or children with a combination of math/reading disabilities. Implications for a valid classification of reading disabilities are discussed.

Exploring which test-taker characteristics predict young L2 learners’ performance on listening and reading comprehension tests

2021 ◽  
pp. 026553222199113
Author(s):  
Sarah Sok ◽  
Hye Won Shin ◽  
Juhyun Do
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Test Taker ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Comprehension Tests ◽  
Reading Comprehension Tests

Test-taker characteristics (TTCs), or individual difference variables, are known to be a systematic source of variance in language test performance. Although previous research has documented the impact of a range of TTCs on second language (L2) learners’ test performance, few of these studies have involved young learners. Given that young L2 learners undergo rapid maturational changes in their cognitive abilities, are susceptible to affective factors in unique ways, and have little autonomy with respect to the context of L2 acquisition, the relationship between their personal attributes and their test performance merit separate research attention. To fill this gap, we investigated the extent to which sixth-grade, Korean-L1, EFL learners’ ( n = 107) TTCs predicted their performance on tests of L2 listening and reading comprehension. The TTCs under investigation included three cognitive characteristics (aptitude, phonological working memory, L1 competence), one affective factor (motivation), and two demographic variables (socioeconomic status and gender). Results showed that aptitude and phonological working memory significantly predicted participants’ performance on both L2 listening and reading comprehension tests, whereas motivation predicted performance on the L2 listening comprehension test only. These findings suggest that higher aptitude, phonological working memory, and motivation contribute positively to young learners’ L2 outcomes.

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