Software for assessment and monitoring the decoding skills development of children from the elementary school: validity based on response process.

The current paper reports only the response-process stage of validation. Earlier validation steps are referenced as published elsewhere and are not shown here. The children were screened to exclude hearing, visual, neurological, cognitive, retention, phonological and oral language problems, so the results do not show how the software performs in children already suspected of disorders. The sample came only from first to fifth grade children in public and private schools in one Brazilian context, and the authors say further research in different regions is needed. For decoding time, children who did not correctly decode any stimulus were excluded, so the time findings may not represent the weakest performers. The paper reports assessment performance, not the effect of an intervention.

Do not read the private-school advantage as proof that PRADE diagnoses reading disorders. The children were screened to exclude hearing, vision, neurological, cognitive, retention and phonological or oral language problems, and the study only examined response-process validity.