Learning potential assessment and adaptation to the educational context: the usefulness of the acfs for assessing immigrant preschool children

Abstract

The objective of this study was to test the usefulness of dynamic assessment for determining cognitive abilities such as classification, auditory and visual memory, pattern sequences, perspective taking, verbal planning, learning potential, andmetacognition in immigrant preschool childrenwith and without competence in the dominant language (Spanish). One hundred seventy-six preschoolchildren were distributed in three groups according to the cultural background of their parents (native Spanish/Spanish-speaking immigrants/non-Spanish speaking immigrants). The children were assessed by means of the K-BIT, the Application of Cognitive Functions Scale (ACFS), and metacognition, language competence and academic performance estimates. The results show that although there are initial differences in execution between the two groups (Spanish/immigrants), there are no differences with regard to learning potential. The study also demonstrates the importance of behavioral, attitudinal, and metacognitive variables in children’s test execution and academic performance. C