Examining Construct Validation of Teachers’ Awareness of Dyslexia and its Application

Dyslexia is the most common and carefully studied of the learning disabilities in school age children. It is characterized by a marked impairment in the development of reading skills, and affects a large number of people. This study was conducted to examine the construct validity of the questionnaire of teachers’ awareness of dyslexia (TAD). To this end, the questionnaire was distributed to 116 elementary school teachers in public schools. To substantiate the construct validity of the test; Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was utilized. Two tests were employed to measure the factorability of the intercorrelation matrix: Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin test of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity. The result of the two tests demonstrated that the factor model was appropriate. The result of rotated component matrix indicated that there are four underlying factors of the test. To apply the validated questionnaire, it was administered to a sample of 170 elementary school teachers, both male and female and holders of various degrees from diploma to MA. Finally, statistical results were discussed and implications were provided.