Academics » DIBELS Assessments

DIBELS Assessments

What is DIBELS

All Kindergarten to 5th Grade will be tested on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS).  DIBELs measures the acquisition of early literacy skills.  The DIBELS measures were specifically designed to assess most of the key components of reading:

  • Phonemic Awareness: Hearing and using sounds in spoken words
  • Phonics/Alphabetic Principle: Knowing the sounds of the letters and sounding out written words
  • Fluent and Accurate Reading: Reading stories and other materials easily and quickly with few mistakes
  • Vocabulary: Understanding and using a variety of words
  • Comprehension: Understanding what is spoken or read                                             DIBELS Reading Image

DIBELs consists of 6 tests that are given at various grade levels.  These research-based measures are linked to one another and predictive of later reading proficiency. The measures are also consistent with many of the Common Core State Standards in Reading, especially the Foundational Skills.  DIBELS consists of the 6 following tests:

  • First Sound Fluency (FSF)
  • Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)*
  • Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
  • Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
  • DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF)
  • Daze

For more information about DIBELS please go to Dibels .  Following is a correlation between the assessments and the key components of reading:

 

Reading Component
What it is
DIBELS Test
Grades that take it
Phonemic Awareness

Ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken words only.

This skill is a powerful predictor of future reading success.

It is a skill that is typically assessed early in a child’s schooling (i.e., kindergarten),

but it is also used with older children who are experiencing difficulty reading.

First Sound Fluency (FSF)

 

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF)

Kindergarten

(Beginning and middle of the year)

 

Middle and end of year in Kindergarten and Beginning of 2nd grade
Phonics

Ability to learn the individual sounds in spoken language and map those

sounds to specific written letters in the English language. Students who have strong phonics skills are able to connect individual sounds with letters and use those sounds to read words.
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
Middle and end of Kindergarten; beginning, middle, and end of Grade 1, and beginning of  Grade 2
Fluent and Accurate Reading
Ability to read text accurately and automatically so that students can understand what they are reading.
DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF)
Middle of 1st Grade; Beginning, Middle and End of Year of 2nd - 5th Grade
Vocabulary 
Knowledge of the meanings of individual words read
 
 
Comprehension
Ability to understand what he or she reads. It is the ultimate goal of reading instruction.
DAZE
Grades 3 - 5 (beginning, middle and end of each grade)

 

* Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) is administered in Kindergarten and the beginning of 1st grade.  There is no proven correlation between Letter Naming Fluency and ability to read.  

 

DIBELS Dates      DIBELS IMAGE 2

 The DIBELS Assessment is delivered 3 times per year.  For the 2021-2022 school year the assessment windows are as follow:

Testing Windows 

The testing window is long to allow for teachers to test students individually since the tests are taken one on one.

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