Researchers Sara Mata, Isabel Monte-Tablada and Francisca Serrano from the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center of the University of Granada (UGR), with Bart Vogelaar, a researcher from the University of Leiden (The Netherlands), have published in the prestigious journal Dyslexia data on the validation of the Assessment Test of Learning Potential for Literacy (EPALE; designed by Mata and Serrano, 2019). This assessment tool has proven useful in diagnosing reading and writing problems and providing new information on learning ability in children with dyslexia and children with literacy problems due to their socio-cultural conditions.
Dyslexia is a condition of high prevalence (5-10%) that affects reading and writing development due to deficits in the consolidation of phonological processes, word recognition, decoding (phoneme-grapheme) and reading fluency, and the alteration of orthographic processes. This results in a series of negative consequences for children and their families: low academic performance, school failure, self-esteem problems, anxiety, lack of motivation, etc.
However, literacy problems are also observed in children without neurodevelopmental disorders who live in disadvantaged socio-cultural conditions. In these homes, the parents' level of literacy, together with the expectations they develop regarding their children's school abilities, generates an environment of less reading stimulation that tends to be reflected in poor reading and writing performance. Thus, although the difficulties' origins may differ, the negative consequences at the academic and personal levels are very similar.
Detecting strengths: Literacy learning potential
Identifying these difficulties at school age is, therefore, of great interest in planning interventions adapted to each child's specific educational needs and preventing the negative impact of literacy deficits. For this purpose, well-designed and validated tools are needed.
However, traditional assessment instruments often place these children at the bottom of the performance curves without informing the professional about their learning process or their ability to acquire new skills, information that is, on the other hand, indispensable for the design of intervention plans.
This research validates the first assessment test of learning potential for reading and writing in 439 children, both with dyslexia and with socio-cultural disadvantage and typical development. It is an instrument that evaluates phonological and orthographic processes relevant to the development of reading and writing, providing information on the level from which the student starts, along with their learning potential or the ability to benefit from training inserted within the test phases.
This information complements the results of traditional reading and writing assessment instruments while facilitating the identification of learning processes and profiles for psychoeducation and speech therapy professionals, thus facilitating subsequent intervention.
The transfer of EPALE to society and its great acceptance among psychoeducation professionals, especially those who work with children in socio-cultural disadvantage and who lack specifically validated tools for these children, stand out.
The EPALE test is the only test currently available to evaluate the potential for learning to read and write in Spanish. It is also the only Spanish reading test valid at all socioeconomic levels.
Reference
Mata, S., Monte-Tablada, I., Vogelaar, B., & Serrano, F. (2025). Dynamic Assessment for Literacy: Utility in Children With Difficulties of Different Socioeconomic Status. Dyslexia, 31:e70002 https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.70002
Contact:
Sara Mata (@email)
Isabel Monte-Tablada (@email)
Francisca Serrano (@email)
Bart Vogelaar (@email)