Dynamic testing and test anxiety amongst gifted and average-ability children

BACKGROUND

Dynamic testing has been proposed as a testing approach that is less disadvantageous for children who may be potentially subject to bias when undertaking conventional assessments. For example, those who encounter high levels of test anxiety, or who are unfamiliar with standardized test procedures, may fail to demonstrate their true potential or capabilities. While dynamic testing has proven particularly useful for special groups of children, it has rarely been used with gifted children.

AIM

We investigated whether it would be useful to conduct a dynamic test to measure the cognitive abilities of intellectually gifted children. We also investigated whether test anxiety scores would be related to a progression in the children's test scores after dynamic training.

SAMPLE

Participants were 113 children aged between 7 and 8 years from several schools in the western part of the Netherlands. The children were categorized as either gifted or average-ability and split into an unguided practice or a dynamic testing condition.

METHODS

The study employed a pre-test-training-post-test design. Using linear mixed modelling analysis with a multilevel approach, we inspected the growth trajectories of children in the various conditions and examined the impact of ability and test anxiety on progression and training benefits.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Dynamic testing proved to be successful in improving the scores of the children, although no differences in training benefits were found between gifted and average-ability children. Test anxiety was shown to influence the children's rate of change across all test sessions and their improvement in performance accuracy after dynamic training.

Development of Successful Intelligence Through Movie Making: The Role of the Forethought Phase of Self-Regulation

This study investigated how the forethought phase of self-regulation is related to the cultivation of successful intelligence (SI) through a filmmaking project. The sample included 83 middle school students divided into an intervention and a control group. Students in the former group received a 3-month intervention involving the making of short movies for the cultivation of SI, whereas the latter continued with traditional teaching. Both groups were tested for their SI before and after the intervention and completed a questionnaire for the forethought phase components of self-regulation. This article presents the analyses of students’ responses to the forethought phase components questionnaire. The results demonstrated that, in general, students of the intervention group expressed higher levels of forethought self-regulation indicators than their peers in the control group; the relationship, however, between self-regulation and SI measures was relatively weak.

Current Perspectives on the Identification and Assessment of Gifted Students

Contemporary thinking challenges the view that giftedness and high IQ are synonymous. Contemporary thinking also challenges the view that being gifted is something real. A number of authorities in the gifted field advocate a paradigm shift; moving away from emphasizing categorical definitions of giftedness and adopting a talent development perspective. This shift to a developmental perspective advocates that we consider giftedness as the unfolding and transforming of uncanny potential among young children into actual outstanding performance and accomplishments in adulthood. The early identification and ongoing assessment of individuals of uncommon ability takes on a more complex, nuanced, and rich perspective when viewed from a developmental model.