An assessment system demonstrates the learning capacity of children with Down's syndrome

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An assessment system demonstrates the learning capacity of children with Down's shttp://www.news-medical.net/?id=35366yndrome

Medical Research News

Published: Wednesday, 20-Feb-2008

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Researchers from the Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment at the University of Granada have adapted a set of assessment criteria created by lecturers from the USA to the Spanish language.

This system makes it possible to assess abilities, attitudes and

learning capacities of pre-school children when fulfilling different

tasks. This project, which was developed by Mar?Auxiliadora Robles Bello and directed by lecturer Mar?Dolores

Calero Garc?/b>, has put this methodology into practice for the

first time with a group of children with Down's syndrome in order to

find out their skills and attitudes towards learning. Their aim was to

establish separate special education services for children with Down's

syndrome and children with intellectual impairment due to unknown

reasons.

The research, carried out at the UGR,

included 127 children aged from 3 to 6 attending classes in different

public schools in the province of Jaén (Andalusia). The researchers

divided them into four groups. The first group comprised children with

Down's syndrome; the second, called "Mental Retardation", comprised

children who had been diagnosed with intellectual impairment by the

Guidance Team at school; the third group, called "Pre-school",

comprised pre-school children considered to be "normal" by their

teachers as they showed a typical development. Finally, the fourth

group was called "Control" and was not in training.

This UGR study has validated an

assessment technique known as ACFS or Application of Cognitive

Functions Scale (Lidz and Jepsen, 1999). ACFS uses basic learning

strategies and cognitive processes associated with typical early

childhood learning activities (children from 3 to 5 years old).

Therefore, the aim is to apply ACFS to Spanish pre-school children.

Mar?Auxiliadora Robles points out that the ACFS scale is an appropriate

assessment technique for Spanish pre-school children with Down's

syndrome, as the authors promised regarding children with developmental

delays in general. The success of this assessment technique lies in the

fact that it can be properly used both with children who develop

normally and with children with Down's syndrome.

Inappropriate tests

Up to now, many studies have shown that traditional tests are

inappropriate for determining whether a child is eligible for special

education services, since they are based on static parameters which

make learning impossible during the assessment. The research carried

out at UGR shows that Dynamic

Assessment is a useful method for determining cognitive and learning

characteristics of people with Down's syndrome.

ACFS is theoretically based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal

Development (ZPD) as well as on Feuerstein's Mediated Learning

Experience and Structural Cognitive Modifiability. As regards

methodology, it follows the same steps, irrespective of its name, which

consist of applying in parallel two methods of carrying out the same

task or test. This is done at two different times during the assessment

process: at the beginning (pre-test) and at the end (post-test). The

most important part of the process is the training between the

beginning and the end, which endeavours to produce a positive post-test

result.

Mar?Auxiliadora Robles Bello stresses that "it is necessary to be

aware of the clear disadvantage people with Down's syndrome suffer in

everyday life, especially in the academic world. Therefore, there is no

doubt that, in order to take responsibility of the needs of these

people, it is essential to study and understand their possibilities and

distinctive features. This is why we try to learn more about these

people with the aim of creating possible assessment systems which will

make it easier to determine how their particular learning processes

work". Robles Bello thinks that "we should break away from the idea

that inequality among people is genetically determined. Hence, it is

very important to demonstrate that people with Down's syndrome have a

learning capacity, which has come to light thanks to this assessment

technique".

http://www.ugr.es/ Carol in IL AIM doihavtasay1 GigaTribe doihavtasayMom to seven including , 7 with TOF, AVcanal, GERD, LS, Asthma, subglottal stenosis, and DS.My problem is not how I look. It's how you see me. Join our Down Syndrome information group - http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DownSyndromeInfoExchange/ Listen to oldest dd's music http://www.myspace.com/vennamusic

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