Validation and standardization of the questionnaire «tell me how you read». The questionnaire on reading strategies in the lower secondary school

This study explores the structural validity of the first Italian questionnaire on reading strategies («Tell me how you read») for the lower secondary school. The areas investigated by the questionnaire refer to six strategic areas known to be effective by several international studies (NICHD, 2000; RAND, 2002; IRA, 2003; Rapporto Eurydice, 2011). The Questionnaire has been validated using a convenience sample of 5362 students of lower secondary schools in Rome, Palermo and Parma. Findings of the confirmative Factor Analysis demonstrated the hypothesized model fits data for the seven dimensions: Knowing how to identify reading purposes; Activating prior knowledge; Making predictions hypothesis about text; Selecting information, Making short summaries of the text; Using text graphic organizers to understand, remember and make connections between information; Controlling and monitoring the process of understanding; Struggling students (a dimension which contains control items about the perception of the difficulties the subject encounters during reading). After the validation the questionnaire has been standardized. The questionnaire has been used in a longitudinal survey on reading (three years of secondary school level), which involved a sample of 359 students (Castellana, 2017). The findings showed significant correlations between the scores of the questionnaire with reading comprehension tests, confirming the hypothesis that the use of reading strategies is a discriminating variable for the students who rank in the highest scores and vice versa.