Key Terms

Dynamic assessment

An assessment approach that determines the child's potential for learning and responsivity to instruction by comparing what the child does independently and what the child is able to do with additional support and assistance. This corresponds to the child’s zone of proximal development (ZPD).

Scaffolding

A dynamic process during adult–child interactions in which the adult provides appropriate levels of support to help the child accomplish more difficult tasks than he or she could normally accomplish independently.

Mediation

A form of adult–child interaction in which the adult or a more knowledgeable peer interposes him- or herself between a child and the world to make experiences more meaningful.

Metacognitive skills

The ability to reflect on and control one's cognitive processes.

Constructivist perspective

A theory of knowledge that views the child as an active learner who organizes new information and relates it to his or her prior learning. Piaget’s theory of child development represents this approach.

Mediated learning approach

An educational approach based on Feuerstein’s theory of mediated learning experiences (MLEs). Rather than teach test items or a task, the adult engages the child in MLEs by teaching cognitive-linguistic skills that will enable the child to master a task or solve a problem and become a self-regulated, active learner.