Arab Educational Information Network

The study aims to evaluate the quality of the psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of scales of learning disabilities used in Arabic research and the extent of their employment for diagnosis of learning disabilities in the public education schools. The study covered 20 research papers in Arabic that included (7) tools for diagnosing learning disabilities. The sample consisted of 41 male and female teachers of students with learning disabilities. Cosmin checklist for quality of psychometric properties and the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (Quadas)-2 for diagnostic accuracy were employed. Furthermore, a questionnaire made by the researcher was used to examine the extent to which teachers employ these scales when diagnosing learning disabilities in the public education schools. Results revealed that there is a limited evidence of the psychometric properties of these scales which may reduce the validity of any conclusions reached regarding the diagnosis of learning disabilities. Due to the risk of bias and concerns associated with the applicability of these scales limit the confidence in their diagnostic properties, it is required to conduct furthermore studies to verify diagnostic tests of those with learning disabilities. In addition to that, results revealed that a high percentage of teachers of learning disabilities do not adopt these scales in diagnosis. Results showed that teachers of learning disabilities rely on diagnostic tests prepared by the general directorate of special education of the Ministry of Education. (Published abstract)