Studies on dyscalculia and psychopedagogical assessment instruments

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the academic literary production of the last ten years on psychopedagogical instruments for the assessment of developmental dys-calculia in children. Using systematic literature review, a survey of studies published in Brazilian scientific research databases was carried out, including the Revista Psico-pedagogia, SCOPUS, CAPES and SciELO. After selecting the sample through the inclusion and exclusion criteria, which totaled eleven studies, a summary of each article was made. Posteriorly, they were defined as categories of analysis: objectives, participants, instruments, results and limitations of the research. These categories of analysis were arranged in tables for a characterization and compa-rison of each aspect between studies. The interpretation of the data obtained was performed through descriptive analysis and qualitative analysis. After the analysis, it was observed that the School Performance Test (SPT) is the main instrument for evaluating school mathematical skills. There was also the proposal by the Mathematical Competence Assessment Battery (BAC-MAT) that evalua-tes mathematical competences listing them according to the sub-types of dyscalculia. Another potential evaluative instrument is the Mathematical Ability Test (MAT) for the assessment of mathematical skills required by the Brazi-lian education system, despite the fact that it is already outdated because it was based on the National Curriculum Parameters (NCP), a document no longer used by teaching plans. The use of the Math Anxiety Scale (MAS) is also highlighted as a measurer of the child’s emotional aspects in relation to mathematics.