Revisiting core issues in dynamic assessment

Abstract

Dynamic assessment is currently poised at a juncture where theoretical and practical assessment resolutions are necessitated. Such issues concern theoretical approaches towards psycho-educational assessment. In order to partially explore these basic assessment approaches, a questionnaire was delivered via electronic mail to 100 international, currently active, dynamic assessment researchers and practitioners. The findings from the responses formed the basis for an informal content analysis, which was conducted utilising themes as primary meaning unit and word counts as secondary meaning unit of analyses. The one common and uniting feature about the current research in this area is the broad range of theoretical approaches towards assessment and the current lack of unanimity across types of approaches. Responses showed that varied theoretical frameworks are employed in dynamic assessments which do not necessarily cohere with other traditional approaches. It is contended that an exploratory revisiting of core assessment approaches would assist in positioning practitioners’ and researchers’ theoretical approaches in future assessments.