Specific Learning Disorder Rating Scale: Development and evidences of validity and reliability

Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) affects the acquisition of reading, writing and mathematics skills, with a prevalence rate of around 5% in school-age children.In the Brazilian context, there is a shortage of scales for the SLD symptoms screening.Therefore, this study aimed to generate the items and present evidences of validity and reliability of the Escala de Avaliação do Transtorno Específico da Aprendizagem (ESATA), a Likert-type scale developed for 2nd to 5th grade teachers.80 items related to the domains of reading, written expression and mathematics were developed.Theoretical and empirical analyses were performed.After the expert panel review, 76 items presented a Content Validity Index (CVI) ranging from 0.86 to 1, with a total CVI = 0.98.The semantic analysis showed the items were easily understood.The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) performed based on data collected from 308 2nd to 5th grade teachers, from 19 Brazilian states, showed a better fit of the data in a bifactorial structure, the first factor called Reading and Writing, with loads ranging from.44 to .89, and the second factor called Mathematics, with loads ranging from .57to .94.Both factors explained 58% of the variance.Cronbach's α for the full scale was .99,indicating excellent reliability of ESATA with 74 items.