Estudos de validade entre instrumentos que avaliam habilidades linguísticas

The aim of this study was to search for evidence of convergent validity between Evaluation Scale of Difficulties in Learning to Write, the Word Recognition Scale and the Cloze Test. Linguistic abilities were assessed using these specific instruments and other variables were also investigated, from the school grade to the recognition of evidence of criterion validity. In addition, the quality of children´s mistakes with regard to the Cloze test was analyzed according to the Evaluation Scale of Difficulties in Learning to Write, which classified the children into groups with and without learning difficulties. The sample was composed of 266 elementary school children in public, private and Social Service for Industry schools in Sao Paulo. The results only permitted us to find evidence of criterion validity with Word Recognition at the grade level. The analysis of correlation between the means of Word Recognition and the Cloze test, using the Evaluation Scale of Difficulties in Learning to Write categories, also indicated significant differences, suggesting convergent validity amongst the instruments.