Assessment

The teacher said cheerfully, "There's going to be a test when you finish!" When you were in school did those words send chills up your spine? Did they cause your palms to sweat and your stomach to do flip flops? Was your reaction similar to the boy at the right?

If the answer to these questions is YES, then there are some things that may make you feel better about the DIBELS testing that occurs as part of Reading First. The tests are quick, 1 minute assessments that are easy to administer. The tests that we give are scientifically proven to be valid and reliable. If a test is valid it means that the assessment measures what it is supposed to measure. For example, the DIBELS measure of Initial Sounds Fluency assesses a child's knowledge of the beginning sound(s) in words. Test reliability refers to the consistency of the assessment score. The test is administered and scored the same way for all students who take the test. The tests that a student will take depend upon his/her grade level and time of year. Teachers use the results of these tests to plan instruction that will best meet the needs of each child. The really great thing about using assessment to drive instruction is that the end result is increased student achievement! The students have the opportunity to "show what they know!"

Let's begin with some basic DIBELS Information! DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. The DIBELS assessments are measures of phonological awareness skills. DIBELS are given at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of each school year in grades K-3. The purpose is to identify students who are in need of extra instruction. Students who are at benchmark in the fall will not be tested again until winter. Students who have some risk will be tested once per month. Students who are at risk will be tested once per week. Since DIBELS are quick and easy to administer, progress of students who are in need of additional help can be monitored weekly, and instruction can be modified based on the assessment results.

DIBELS Testing in Grades K-3
Grade DIBELS Measure Time of Year Given Key Idea Assessed
K Letter Naming Fluency Beginning, Middle, End Phonemic Awareness and Initial Sounds Fluency Beginning, Middle Phonics Phoneme Segmentation Fluency Middle, End Nonsense Word Fluency Middle, End
1st Letter Naming Fluency Beginning Phonemic Awareness, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency Beginning, Middle, End Phonics, and Fluency Nonsense Word Fluency Beginning, Middle, End Oral Reading Fluency Middle, End
2nd Nonsense Word Fluency Beginning Phonics and Fluency Oral Reading Fluency Beginning, Middle, End
3rd Oral Reading Fluency Beginning, Middle, End Fluency

To learn more click on each assessment! Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) Initial Sounds Fluency (ISF) Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)

To view the DIBELS Administration and Scoring Guide click on the link below!

Home	What is Reading First?	Phonemic Awareness	Phonics
Fluency	Vocabulary	Comprehension	Literacy Schedules
Parent Page	Kid Sites	Standards	DIBELS Assessment
DIBELS- LNF	DIBELS- ISF	DIBELS- PSF	DIBELS- NWF
DIBELS- ORF	Reading Academy