School-aged children's performance in the Brazilian adaptation of the reading processes assessment.

BACKGROUND Brazilian adaptation of the reading processes assessment (Prolec). AIM To characterize and compare the performance of students from public and private teaching institutions from the 1st to the 4th grades in the adaptation of the reading processes assessment (Prolec). METHOD 262 students from the 1st to the 4th grades of elementary school participated in this study. Participants were distributed as follows: Group I (GI) consisted of 122 students from the 1st to the 4th grades of public elementary schools and Group II (GII) consisted of 140 students from the 1st to the 4th grades of private elementary schools. The adapted version of the reading processes assessment (Prolec) was applied. RESULTS The results indicated that GII performed better in tests of sound identification, word choosing, words reading, low-frequency words reading, pseudo-words reading, sentences comprehension and text comprehension. Both groups presented a lower performance than the expected in Prolec tests Spanish version. CONCLUSIONS The adaptation of the Prolec to the Brazilian reality appears to be appropriate for the establishment of a reading profile of students, from public and private teaching institutions, who are undergoing the initial phase of literacy.