The Reliability and Validity of an Assessment Tool for Developmental Dyslexia in Chinese Children

Yanhong Huang,Anna Li,Anyan Huang,Xuanzhi Zhang,Yuhang Lin,Kusheng Wu

doi:10.3390/ijerph17103660

Abstract

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a common neurobehavioral disorder in children. It refers to the phenomenon in which children with normal intelligence lag significantly behind their peers in reading ability. In China, there is no unified standard for the assessment of dyslexia due to the use of simplified and traditional Chinese characters in different regions. This study was aimed at analyzing the reliability and validity of the self-developed Chinese dyslexia assessment tool named Chinese Reading Ability Test (CRAT), which was suitable for students of grade 3 to 5 in primary school. We randomly selected three primary schools in Shantou city of China, including two in the central district and one in the surrounding district. A total of 1492 students of grades 3 through 5 were recruited. We assessed the reliability of CRAT by test–retest reliability and internal consistency. The validity assessment was realized by discriminant validity, content validity and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). For reliability, the test–retest correlation coefficient of the total score of the CRAT was 0.671. The difference between the test–retest was not statistically significant. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the CRAT was 0.75. For validity, the correlation coefficient between the score of each subscale and the total score of the scale ranged from 0.29 to 0.73. The indexes of the three structural equation models all meet the standard (p > 0.05, χ2/df < 2.00, RMSEA < 0.05, GFI > 0.90, AGFI > 0.90, NFI > 0.90, CFI > 0.90 and IFI > 0.90). The fitting effects of the models were good. The CRAT has sufficient reliability and validity which could be used for the assessment and auxiliary diagnosis of Chinese Dyslexia in primary school students of grade 3 to 5.

Highlights

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a persistent reading disorder characterized by inaccurate or slow or effortful reading and by poor spelling [1]
Spearman correlation analysis was conducted on the test and retest, and the results showed that test–retest reliability of each subscale and total score was between 0.442 and 0.790
There was no significant difference in the results of subscale scores and total scores before and after the measurements by nonparametric test

Summary

Introduction

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a persistent reading disorder characterized by inaccurate or slow or effortful reading and by poor spelling [1]. These difficulties are often “unexpected” in view of the child’s other cognitive abilities (i.e., typical general intelligence) and exist despite the provision of adequate formal classroom instruction. Dyslexia typically results from a deficit in the phonological component of language [2]. It occurs in all languages [3], even though the consistency in which phonology is represented in the orthography varies and has a major effect in the development of reading [4].

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