Para que serve o subteste de Aritmética do Teste de Desempenho Escolar?

Abstract

Mathematics learning difficulties (MLD) are associated with lower income, employability and psychosocial adaptation, however, the identification of children with MLD is hampered by the absence of reliable cognitive and biological markers. Performance in arithmetic below a cut-off score on a standardized achievement test is one of the criteria adopted to diagnose math disability or dyscalculia. One of the main psychometric instruments available in Brazil for this type of diagnosis is the Brazilian School Performance Test. In this paper, we analyze four aspects of the psychometric validity of the TDE Arithmetic subtest, 1st edition: construct validity, dimensionality, internal consistency, criterion validity, convergent/divergent validity and content validity. The study was conducted with 2226 children from the 2nd to the 5th grade, and a smaller group with 927 children. The results suggest associations of the test with demographic aspects such as gender, school year and type of school. Moreover, indicate that the TDE items are organized in hierarchically increasing difficulty level, divided into two factors categorized by difficulty level. Internal consistency analysis resulted in satisfactory indicators. The results of the criterion validity analysis suggest that the performance of children with Arithmetic and Spelling difficulties, classified by the TDE, in the Calculation and Arabic Number Writing tasks was significantly lower than that of children without difficulties. In addition, both Arithmetic TDE and Spelling TDE were able to discriminate difficulties in Calculation and Arabic Number Writing tasks with more than 66% accuracy. The results indicate that the TDE Arithmetic subtest is able to identify children with difficulties in numerical cognition, more specifically in Calculation and Arabic Number Writing. However, it is important to emphasize that the TDE Spelling subtest also correlates with numerical tasks.Keywords: dyscalculia,learning disorders,psychometrics,mathematical learning difficulties, Scholar Achievement Test.