Dynamic assessment (DA) of word reading measures learning potential for early reading development by documenting the amount of assistance needed to learn how to read words with unfamiliar orthography. We examined the additive value of DA for predicting first-grade decoding and word recognition development while controlling for autoregressive effects. Additionally, we examined whether predictive validity of DA would be higher for students who have poor phonological awareness skills. First-grade students ( n = 105) were assessed on measures of word reading, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and DA in the fall and again assessed on word reading measures in the spring. A series of planned, moderated multiple regression analyses indicated that DA made a significant and unique contribution in predicting word recognition development above and beyond the autoregressor, particularly for students with poor phonological awareness skills. For these students, DA explained 3.5% of the unique variance in end-of-first-grade word recognition that was not attributable to autoregressive effect. Results suggest that DA provides an important source of individual differences in the development of word recognition skills that cannot be fully captured by merely assessing the present level of reading skills through traditional static assessment, particularly for students at risk for developing reading disabilities.

References

Al Otaiba, S., Connor, C. M., Folsom, J. S., Wanzek, J., Greulich, L., Schatschneider, C., Wagner, R. K. ( 2014 ). To wait in Tier 1 or intervene immediately: A randomized experiment examining first-grade response to intervention in reading . Exceptional Children, 81, 11 – 27 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Andersen, R. ( 2008 ). Modern methods for robust regression (Issue 152). Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage .

Google Scholar Crossref

Bridges, M. S., Catts, H. W. ( 2011 ). The use of a dynamic screening of phonological awareness to predict risk for reading disabilities in kindergarten children . Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44, 330 – 338 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Budoff, M. ( 1967 ). Learning potential among institutionalized young adult retardates . American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 72, 404 – 411 .

Google Scholar Medline

Caffrey, E., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S. ( 2008 ). The predictive validity of dynamic assessment: A review . The Journal of Special Education, 41, 254 – 270 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Campione, J. C., Brown, A. L. ( 1990 ). Guided learning and transfer: Implications for approaches to assessment . In Frederiksen, N., Glaser, R. (Eds.), Diagnostic monitoring of skill and knowledge acquisition (pp. 141 – 172 ). Hillsdale, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum .

Google Scholar

Campione, J. C., Brown, A. L., Ferrara, R. A., Jones, R. S., Steinberg, E. ( 1985 ). Breakdowns in the flexible use of information: Intelligence-related differences in transfer following equivalent learning performance . Intelligence, 9, 297 – 315 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Carlson, J. S., Wiedl, K. H. ( 1979 ). Toward a differential testing approach: Testing-the-limits employing the Raven matrices . Intelligence, 3, 323 – 344 .

Google Scholar Crossref

Catts, H. W., Petscher, Y., Schatschneider, C., Bridges, M. S., Mendoza, K. ( 2009 ). Floor effects associated with universal screening and their impact on the early identification of reading disabilities . Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(2), 163 – 176 . doi:10.1177/0022219408326219

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Cho, E., Compton, D. L. ( 2015 ) Construct and incremental validity of DA within and across domains . Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 183 – 196 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Cho, E., Compton, D. L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Bouton, B. ( 2014 ). Examining the predictive validity of a dynamic assessment of decoding to forecast response to Tier 2 intervention . Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47, 409 – 423 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Compton, D. L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Bouton, B., Gilbert, J. K., Barquero, L. A., Crouch, R. C. ( 2010 ). Selecting at-risk first-grade readers for early intervention: Eliminating false positives and exploring the promise of a two-stage gated screening process . Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 327 – 340 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Compton, D. L., Gilbert, J. K., Jenkins, J. R., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Cho, E., Bouton, B. ( 2012 ). Accelerating chronically unresponsive children to Tier 3 instruction: What level of data is necessary to ensure selection accuracy? Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45, 204 – 216 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Daniel, M. H. ( 1997 ). Intelligence testing: Status and trends . American Psychologist, 52, 1038 – 1045 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

de Jong, P. F . ( 2011 ). What discrete and serial rapid automatized naming can reveal about reading . Scientific Studies of Reading, 15, 314 – 337 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Ehri, L. C. ( 2014 ). Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of sight word reading, spelling memory, and vocabulary learning . Scientific Studies of Reading, 18, 5 – 21 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Ehri, L. C., Deffner, N. D., Wilce, L. S. ( 1984 ). Pictorial mnemonics for phonics . Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 880 – 893 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Elbro, C., Daugaard, H. T., Gellert, A. S. ( 2012 ). Dyslexia in a second language? A dynamic test of reading acquisition may provide a fair answer . Annals of Dyslexia, 62, 172 – 185 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Elliott, J. ( 2003 ). Dynamic assessment in educational settings: Realising potential . Educational Review, 55, 15 – 32 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Feuerstein, R., Rand, Y., Hoffman, M. B. ( 1981 ). The dynamic assessment of retarded performers: The learning potential assessment device, theory, instruments and techniques . International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 4, 465 – 466 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Fuchs, D., Compton, D. L., Fuchs, L. S., Bouton, B., Caffrey, E. ( 2011 ). The construct and predictive validity of a dynamic assessment of young children learning to read . Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44, 339 – 347 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Compton, D. L. ( 2012 ). Smart RTI: A next-generation approach to multilevel prevention . Exceptional Children, 78, 263 – 279 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Compton, D. L., Bouton, B., Caffrey, E., Hill, L. ( 2007 ). Dynamic assessment as responsiveness-to-intervention: A scripted protocol to identify young at-risk readers . Teaching Exceptional Children, 39, 58 – 63 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals

Grigorenko, E. L. ( 2009 ). Dynamic assessment and response to intervention: Two sides of one coin . Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42, 111 – 132 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Grigorenko, E. L., Sternberg, R. J. ( 1998 ). Dynamic testing . Psychological Bulletin, 124, 75 – 111 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Guthke, J. ( 1992 ). Learning tests—The concept, main research findings, problems and trends . Learning and Individual Differences, 4, 137 – 151 .

Google Scholar Crossref

Haywood, H. C., Lidz, C. S. ( 2007 ). Dynamic assessment in practice: Clinical and educational applications. New York : Cambridge University Press .

Google Scholar

Hulme, C., Goetz, K., Gooch, D., Adams, J., Snowling, M. J. ( 2007 ). Paired associate learning, phoneme awareness, and learning to read . Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 96, 150 – 166 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Jitendra, A. K., Kameenui, E. J. ( 1993 ). Dynamic testing as a compensatory testing approach: A description and analysis . Remedial and Special Education, 14, 6 – 18 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Litt, R. A., de Jong, P. F., van Bergen, E., Nation, K. ( 2013 ). Dissociating crossmodal and verbal demands in paired associate learning (PAL): What drives the PAL–reading relationship? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115, 137 – 149 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

O’Connor, R. E., Jenkins, J. R. ( 1999 ). Prediction of reading disabilities in kindergarten and first grade . Scientific Studies of Reading, 3, 159 – 197 .

Google Scholar Crossref

Parrila, R., Kirby, J. R., McQuarrie, L. ( 2004 ). Articulation rate, naming speed, verbal short-term memory, and phonological awareness: Longitudinal predictors of early reading development? Scientific Studies of Reading, 8, 3 – 26 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Petersen, D. B., Allen, M. M., Spencer, T. D. ( 2014 ). Predicting reading difficulty in first grade using dynamic assessment of decoding in early kindergarten: A large-scale longitudinal study . Journal of Learning Disabilities. Advance online publication. doi:0022219414538518

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Seethaler, P. M., Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Compton, D. L. ( 2012 ). Predicting first graders’ development of calculation versus word-problem performance: The role of dynamic assessment . Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(1), 224 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Share, D. L. ( 1995 ). Phonological recoding and self-teaching: Sine qua non of reading acquisition . Cognition, 55, 151 – 218 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Share, D. L. ( 1999 ). Phonological recoding and orthographic learning: A direct test of the self-teaching hypothesis . Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 72, 95 – 129 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Spector, J. E. ( 1992 ). Predicting progress in beginning reading: Dynamic assessment of phonemic awareness . Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 353 – 363 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Sternberg, R. J. ( 1996 ). Successful intelligence. New York : Simon & Schuster .

Google Scholar

Swanson, H. L. ( 2010 ). Does the dynamic testing of working memory predict growth in nonword fluency and vocabulary in children with reading disabilities? Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 9, 139 – 165 .

Google Scholar Crossref

Swanson, H. L., Lussier, C. M. ( 2001 ). A selective synthesis of the experimental literature on dynamic assessment . Review of Educational Research, 71, 321 – 363 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Torgesen, J. K., Wagner, R. K., Rashotte, C. A. ( 2012 ). Test of word reading efficiency—Second edition (TOWRE-2). Austin, TX : PRO-ED .

Google Scholar

Tzuriel, D., Haywood, H. C. ( 1992 ). The development of interactive dynamic approaches for assessment of learning potential . In Haywood, H., Tzuriel, D. (Eds.), Interactive assessment (pp. 3 – 37 ). New York : Springer-Verlag .

Google Scholar Crossref

Vaughn, S., Denton, C. A., Fletcher, J. M. ( 2010 ). Why intensive interventions are necessary for students with severe reading difficulties . Psychology in the Schools, 47, 432 – 444 .

Google Scholar Medline | ISI

Vygotsky, L. S. ( 1962 ). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA : MIT Press .

Google Scholar Crossref

Wagner, R. K., Compton, D. L. ( 2011 ). Dynamic assessment and its implications for RTI models . Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(4), 311 – 312 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., Rashotte, C. A. (1999). Comprehensive test of phonological processing (CTOPP). Austin, TX : PRO-ED .

Google Scholar

Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., Rashotte, C. A., Hecht, S. A., Barker, T. A., Burgess, S. R., Garon, T. ( 1997 ). Changing relations between phonological processing abilities and word-level reading as children develop from beginning to skilled readers: A 5-year longitudinal study . Developmental Psychology, 33(3), 468 – 479 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Warmington, M., Hulme, C. ( 2012 ). Phoneme awareness, visual-verbal paired-associate learning, and rapid automatized naming as predictors of individual differences in reading ability . Scientific Studies of Reading, 16, 45 – 62 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

West, S. G., Finch, J. F., Curran, P. J. ( 1995 ). Structural equation models with nonnormal variables: Problems and remedies . In Hoyle, R. (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 56 – 75 ). Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage .

Google Scholar

Woodcock, R. W. ( 1998 ). Woodcock reading mastery tests—Revised. Circle Pines, MN : American Guidance Service .

Google Scholar