Development and validation of the dyslexia assessment and intervention scale to measure dyslexia knowledge

Practitioner knowledge about dyslexia is related to improved educational practices, but few measures of dyslexia knowledge have been validated with rigorous processes. The current study developed the Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention Scale (DAIS) with the three-phase process outlined by Boateng et al. (Frontiers in Public Health 6:149, 2018) to assess the knowledge of participants of a university-based certificate program. The three-phased development process resulted in a 21-item survey that adequately represented standards. The items were tested with 221 respondents and resulted in acceptable reliability (a = .80) and four factors (General Understanding of Dyslexia, Phonemic Awareness Knowledge, Grapheme Knowledge, and Assessment) with a good model fit (CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.04). The total overall mean score of 12.45 (out of 21, 57.14%) suggested low knowledge about assessing and intervening for dyslexia. An exploratory analysis found a significant effect of the occupation of participants on total score that was generally consistent with previous research. The DAIS appears to be a promising scale that warrants additional research.