Design and validation of a scale for the identification of dyslexia at the beginning of Primary Education

Abstract

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder with a neurobiological basis that affects a significant percentage of students. However, there are no known validated instruments that contribute to the early identification of this problem, which makes educational intervention difficult. This work aims at developing and validating a scale of risk indicators for dyslexia at the beginning of the Primary Education stage (EIRD-EP) in order to favour the detection of this learning problem as soon as they become evident. There was a participation of 458 Primary Education teachers from different state schools and charter schools. The validity of the questionnaire was carried out through content validity together with an exploratory factorial analysis with half of the sample that indicated a fourfactor structure, later a confirmatory factorial analysis was carried out with the other half of the sample that revealed a correct adjustment of the model. The results show that the instrument can be used by education professionals to identify students who are at risk of presenting dyslexia.