No abstract

Este é um artigo de acesso aberto, licenciado por Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0), sendo permitidas reprodução, adaptação e distribuição desde que o autor e a fonte originais sejam creditados.A utilização da plataforma "Ainda Estou a Aprender" na avaliação e na intervenção nas dificuldades na aprendizagem da leitura: um estudo de casoThe platform "I'm still learning" in the assessment and intervention in reading disabilities: A case study RESUMO -As dificuldades na aprendizagem da leitura (DAL) constituem uma das principais causas de referenciação dos alunos para apoio educativo, na medida em que estas têm implicações no percurso escolar dos alunos, na inserção no mercado de trabalho e na participação social e cívica. A investigação realizada nas últimas décadas tem permitido identificar as condições chave para a eficácia da intervenção: necessidade de um ensino mais explícito (da consciência fonológica, da leitura de palavras e da compreensão); precocidade; sistematicidade; individualização; intensidade. A heterogeneidade do grupo de alunos com DAL requer uma avaliação que permita identificar os diferentes perfis e desenhar a intervenção adequada. Esta avaliação e intervenção exigem materiais e competências específicos. Os principais objetivos deste artigo são: (a) apresentar a plataforma educativa Ainda Estou a Aprender (AEA), procurando ilustrar o modo como as tecnologias de informação podem apoiar quer o diagnóstico, quer a intervenção nas DAL; (b) analisar, através de um estudo de caso, as perceções relativamente às atividades propostas na plataforma AEA e o seu impacto nos padrões de motivação para a aprendizagem da leitura.Palavras-chave: dificuldades na aprendizagem da leitura, avaliação e intervenção, plataforma educativa online.ABSTRACT -Reading disabilities are one of the main causes of signalization of students for educational support, given that these have implications in their educational trajectory, in their entrance in the job market and in their civic and social participation. The research performed in the last decades has identified key variables that maximize the efficacy of the intervention: teaching competences (phonological awareness, word reading and comprehension) explicitly, early, systematically, individually and intensively. The heterogeneity of the group of students with reading disabilities requires an assessment that allows the identification of the diverse profiles and the designing of adequate intervention programs. In turn, the assessment and intervention require specific materials and competences. The aims of this paper are: (a) to describe the educational platform "I'm still learning" illustrating how information and communication technologies can be used in the diagnostic and intervention in reading disabilities; (b) to analyse, through a case study, the perceptions about the activities presented in the platform AEA, and their impact on the patterns of motivation for learning to read.

Research has widely demonstrated the contribution of word reading, listening comprehension skills, and oral reading fluency to reading comprehension performance. However, the existence of reciprocal relations among these skills has been investigated less frequently. The authors examined the directionality of the relations among reading comprehension, listening comprehension, word reading, and oral reading fluency in Portuguese elementary school students from second to fourth grade by using a longitudinal cross‐lagged design. The sample was composed of 261 students assessed at the end of grades 2, 3, and 4. The results indicated that there is a reciprocal relation between listening comprehension and reading comprehension in every grade and that oral reading fluency and reading comprehension have a reciprocal relation only in the initial years of schooling, similar to the observed relation between oral reading fluency and word reading. The results are discussed considering their potential impact and the limitations of the study.

An effective reading comprehension measurement demands robust psychometric tools that allow teachers and researchers to evaluate the educational practices and track changes in students' performance. In this study, we illustrate how Rasch model can be used to attend such demands and improve reading comprehension measurement. We discuss the construction of two reading comprehension tests: TRC-n, with narrative texts, and TRC-e, with expository texts. Three vertically scaled forms were generated for each test (TRC-n-2, TRC-n-3, TRC-n-4; TRC-e-2, TRC-e-3 and TRC-e-4), each meant to assess Portuguese students in second, third and fourth grade of elementary school. The tests were constructed according to a nonequivalent groups with anchor test design and data were analyzed using the Rasch model. The results provided evidence for good psychometric qualities for each test form, including unidimensionality and local independence and adequate reliability. A critical view of this study and future researches are discussed.

This investigation aimed to develop and collect psychometric data for two tests assessing listening comprehension of Portuguese students in primary school: the Test of Listening Comprehension of Narrative Texts (TLC-n) and the Test of Listening Comprehension of Expository Texts (TLC-e). Two studies were conducted. The purpose of study 1 was to construct four test forms for each of the two tests to assess first, second, third and fourth grade students of the primary school. The TLC-n was administered to 1042 students, and the TLC-e was administered to 848 students. The purpose of study 2 was to test the psychometric properties of new items for the TLC-n form for fourth graders, given that the results in study 1 indicated a severe lack of difficult items. The participants were 260 fourth graders. The data were analysed using the Rasch model. Thirty items were selected for each test form. The results provided support for the model assumptions: Unidimensionality and local independence of the items. The reliability coefficients were higher than .70 for all test forms. The TLC-n and the TLC-e present good psychometric properties and represent an important contribution to the learning disabilities assessment field.

The aim of this study was twofold. In Study 1, we described the development of four forms of a test of word reading (TLP -Teste de Leitura de Palavras) for elementary school children (grades 1 to 4), using the Rasch model. An initial pool of 142 words was selected and tested on 905 Portuguese students. Rasch analyses allowed the development of a shorter version of the test for each grade with adjusted values concerning reliability coefficients and item local independence. In Study 2 (n = 325), the classification accuracy of the TLP to identify at-risk students for reading problems was examined based on several indices. Results indicated that each test form of the TLP presented overall satisfactory classification accuracy in identifying at-risk readers with a criterion of 0.80 to set the sensitivity levels.

Reading comprehension assessment should rely on valid instruments that enable adequate conclusions to be taken regarding students' reading comprehension performance. In this article, two studies were conducted to collect validity evidence for the vertically scaled forms of two Tests of Reading Comprehension for Portuguese elementary school students in the second to fourth grades, one with narrative texts (TRC-n) and another with expository ones (TRC-e). Two samples of 950 and 990 students participated in Study 1, the study of the dimensionality of the TRC-n and TRC-e forms, respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence of an acceptable fit for the one-factor solution for all test forms. Study 2 included 218 students to collect criterion-related validity. The scores obtained in each of the test forms were significantly correlated with the ones obtained in other reading comprehension measures and with the results obtained in oral reading fluency, vocabulary and working memory tests. Evidence suggests that the test forms are valid measures of reading comprehension.

ResumoEste estudo tem por objetivo apresentar dados relativos à fi delidade e validade da Prova de Reconhecimento de Palavras (PRP), destinada a alunos dos 4 primeiros anos de escolaridade. A prova é constituída por 40 palavras regulares de 2 e 3 sílabas. Realizaram-se dois estudos. Um primeiro, com 328 alunos, e um segundo com 3.131. Os coefi cientes de consistência interna foram elevados nos 4 anos (variando entre 0,96 e 0,98). A diferença na média de desempenho entre anos foi estatisticamente signifi cativa, com valores moderados de magnitude do efeito. Não se encontraram diferenças estatisticamente signifi cativas entre sexos. As correlações com critérios externos foram positivas e estatisticamente signifi cativas. Os dados da AFC são ambíguos, apontando para a necessidade de realização novos estudos. Palavras-chave: Leitura, reconhecimento de palavras, avaliação psicológica. AbstractThis study's purpose is to present data regarding the reliability and validity of the Word Recognition Test (WRT) for students of the fi rst 4 years of schooling. The test consists of 40 regular words of 2 and 3 syllables. Two studies were performed. The fi rst included 328 students, and the second one 3,131 students. The coeffi cients of internal consistency were high in the whole 4 years (ranging between .96 and .98). The difference on performance average was statistically signifi cant between years, with moderate magnitude effect. No statistically signifi cant differences were found between sexes. Correlations with external criteria were positive and statistically signifi cant. Results of the Confi rmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) are not conclusive, pointing to the need of further studies.