We got the first DIBELS results for our first grader in November. I'm a big fan. It really breaks things down into all the separate skills your kid needs so you can understand their strengths and weaknesses. And apparently we're also going to get updated scores again in winter and spring, which is great. I love that we and her teacher are so intimately familiar with all the individual pieces of how she's doing.

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener's teacher shared the results with us. She tested at grade level but the teacher said she didn't know the sounds for a number of letters. But actually, she does...and she can read, which by parent teacher conference time the teacher acknowledged. She's just very slow to warm up and a 1-on-1 with a teacher at the beginning of the school year is a way that will guarantee you will absolutely not information out of her. This method of testing seems unreliable.

Unreliable in comparison to what, a group test? No one test is going to be completely accurate for every single person which is why teachers do the testing and look at other measures. Its also why its not one and done. And it’s also why there is no requirement that all students be reading independently by the end of K. Kids develop differently and adjust to school differently.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener's teacher shared the results with us. She tested at grade level but the teacher said she didn't know the sounds for a number of letters. But actually, she does...and she can read, which by parent teacher conference time the teacher acknowledged. She's just very slow to warm up and a 1-on-1 with a teacher at the beginning of the school year is a way that will guarantee you will absolutely not information out of her. This method of testing seems unreliable.

So is Dibels actually a 1-on-1 test with the teacher? Our 2nd grader scored at grade level, but I was confused how she "needs some support" for decoding, yet is at benchmark for "accurate and fluent reading" and actually scored above benchmark in reading comprehension.

This would mean that your second grader was more able to read words in context than from word lists or lists of nonsense words. This is important information, the skills in decoding will support your student as she moves into longer, multipsylabic words and reads more unfamiliar words.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

The Dibels assessment will be given three times a year. Dibels does an excellent job at breaking down the foundational skills of language. Honestly, there is nothing for you to understand. It is meant for the teacher to track and monitor progress of the student.

Given the student is my child, I'd think I'd want to understand how it's helping (or not) my child learn to read, so I can understand the progress they're making and support and encourage them accordingly at home. Thanks.

If they had to share the info with parents, there might be accountability which I think they don't like.

My DC's 1st grade teacher shared the Dibels results with us. He was testing as below grade level. I could tell that he was struggling a bit reading and suspected he was lagging behind his peers so I wasn't necessarily surprised. Teacher did not seem overly concerned given what she observes in class and cautioned that the time element can be challenging for some. He doesn't qualify for intervention or anything, but it was definitely helpful for us to know that we needed to step it up at home.

We also got the results, explained in detail, but never let reality get in the way of a DCUM conspiracy theory.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

The Dibels assessment will be given three times a year. Dibels does an excellent job at breaking down the foundational skills of language. Honestly, there is nothing for you to understand. It is meant for the teacher to track and monitor progress of the student.

Given the student is my child, I'd think I'd want to understand how it's helping (or not) my child learn to read, so I can understand the progress they're making and support and encourage them accordingly at home. Thanks.

If they had to share the info with parents, there might be accountability which I think they don't like.

The test is part of a child’s records so parents can end should request the results. Teachers should explain them to parents.

Just ask for the parent letter after January testing. It's really nicely laid out and explains how your child did on each subtest. Our teachers printed them for conferences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

The Dibels assessment will be given three times a year. Dibels does an excellent job at breaking down the foundational skills of language. Honestly, there is nothing for you to understand. It is meant for the teacher to track and monitor progress of the student.

Given the student is my child, I'd think I'd want to understand how it's helping (or not) my child learn to read, so I can understand the progress they're making and support and encourage them accordingly at home. Thanks.

If they had to share the info with parents, there might be accountability which I think they don't like.

The test is part of a child’s records so parents can end should request the results. Teachers should explain them to parents.

DIBELS is great and does provide useful, actionable information. In MCPS, K - 2 have to take the benchmark tests in September, January and May. Students are also progress monitored on the DIBELS site regularly depending upon where their composite score fell during the big three testing seasons. I believe kids in the red (well-below) have to be progress monitored every two weeks. I think in the yellow (below) are PM'd every three weeks and I'm unsure about those who are on or above.
The only issue we have run into with DIBELS this year is that schools weren't told they had to use the progress monitoring component until well into the school year. The good news is that the progress monitoring subtests don't take too long to administer.

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener's teacher shared the results with us. She tested at grade level but the teacher said she didn't know the sounds for a number of letters. But actually, she does...and she can read, which by parent teacher conference time the teacher acknowledged. She's just very slow to warm up and a 1-on-1 with a teacher at the beginning of the school year is a way that will guarantee you will absolutely not information out of her. This method of testing seems unreliable.

They do a mid year check in and hopefully you'll get a more accurate result. Test anxiety (or social anxiety) often skews test results. You have to use other data points if the test doesn't match what you're seeing in other settings.

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener's teacher shared the results with us. She tested at grade level but the teacher said she didn't know the sounds for a number of letters. But actually, she does...and she can read, which by parent teacher conference time the teacher acknowledged. She's just very slow to warm up and a 1-on-1 with a teacher at the beginning of the school year is a way that will guarantee you will absolutely not information out of her. This method of testing seems unreliable.

So is Dibels actually a 1-on-1 test with the teacher? Our 2nd grader scored at grade level, but I was confused how she "needs some support" for decoding, yet is at benchmark for "accurate and fluent reading" and actually scored above benchmark in reading comprehension.

My kindergartener's teacher shared the results with us. She tested at grade level but the teacher said she didn't know the sounds for a number of letters. But actually, she does...and she can read, which by parent teacher conference time the teacher acknowledged. She's just very slow to warm up and a 1-on-1 with a teacher at the beginning of the school year is a way that will guarantee you will absolutely not information out of her. This method of testing seems unreliable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

The Dibels assessment will be given three times a year. Dibels does an excellent job at breaking down the foundational skills of language. Honestly, there is nothing for you to understand. It is meant for the teacher to track and monitor progress of the student.

Given the student is my child, I'd think I'd want to understand how it's helping (or not) my child learn to read, so I can understand the progress they're making and support and encourage them accordingly at home. Thanks.

If they had to share the info with parents, there might be accountability which I think they don't like.

My DC's 1st grade teacher shared the Dibels results with us. He was testing as below grade level. I could tell that he was struggling a bit reading and suspected he was lagging behind his peers so I wasn't necessarily surprised. Teacher did not seem overly concerned given what she observes in class and cautioned that the time element can be challenging for some. He doesn't qualify for intervention or anything, but it was definitely helpful for us to know that we needed to step it up at home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

The Dibels assessment will be given three times a year. Dibels does an excellent job at breaking down the foundational skills of language. Honestly, there is nothing for you to understand. It is meant for the teacher to track and monitor progress of the student.

Given the student is my child, I'd think I'd want to understand how it's helping (or not) my child learn to read, so I can understand the progress they're making and support and encourage them accordingly at home. Thanks.

If they had to share the info with parents, there might be accountability which I think they don't like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

The Dibels assessment will be given three times a year. Dibels does an excellent job at breaking down the foundational skills of language. Honestly, there is nothing for you to understand. It is meant for the teacher to track and monitor progress of the student.

Given the student is my child, I'd think I'd want to understand how it's helping (or not) my child learn to read, so I can understand the progress they're making and support and encourage them accordingly at home. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

3X a year is plenty for standardized testing less would be even better

Dibels is supposed to be quick tests (less than 5 minutes) administered regularly to monitor progress of students and determine if interventions are working. It seems MCPS is incorrectly administering them, especially in the early grades, if they're only doing them 3x/year.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It seems one DIBELS assessment was done at the beginning of the year, but nothing since then. Is that the plan? Will there be a winter assessment, similar to how the older kids do MAP 3x/year?

Trying to understand how the switch to DIBELS is being implemented to help the kids with phonics and reading, especially in KG.

TIA!

The Dibels assessment will be given three times a year. Dibels does an excellent job at breaking down the foundational skills of language. Honestly, there is nothing for you to understand. It is meant for the teacher to track and monitor progress of the student.