Do APS kids as a cohort generally score better than the Natl Average? (I'm guessing they do).

Are the composite scores going to be used in helping determining GT placement? My kid, who tends to drift off in class and not pay attention, scored super high. I'd like to use that as motivation to get her a little extra attention (I know APS doesn't do much for GT but anything would help).

1) I don't know. It's the first year of us giving this assessment and we haven't seen any score information higher than our particular grade level at our school.

2)No. Will definitely not be used for GT identification. It's a SCREENER for reading difficulty. Not an identifier for high readers. COGAT is the test for GT identification and we aren't sure if it will be given this year. We have been told there is no GT identification without testing per VDOE rules.

Anonymous wrote:The only part of this that really annoys me is that they sent us a report in the second week of December saying that the teachers are going to be learning how to use this in order to teach our kids appropriately. The year is half over.

This is public education. They go whichever way the wind blows. If someone sells a new assessment program, they will buy it and then train teachers on it at any time. DIBELS is an assessment but it does have instructional support for small, targeted groups.

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you, are you a teacher? Do you find DIBELS to be more helpful than PALS?

I teach 4th. It is a lot easier to give than the PALS virtually because there are fewer subtests. We are still learning about it because APS did not start DIBELS administration until November. They wanted to get PALS (k-2) done first which takes much longer to administer.

The good I can see so far is that it just screens for the students who need an intervention. The downside is that it doesn’t really give a “level” like PALS does, that’s not the point. Howeve The parents want that info so as you can see from this it’s harder for them to understand and APS hasn’t done a great job of rolling it out or communicating to parents. Basically we are using the data to see who needs work on decoding and who needs work on comprehension. Anyone in the green or blue ranges is really totally fine or above.

APS is focusing on the composite score which supposedly has greater significance than the individual scores. So if that composite says you are fine, again, I would not worry about your child!!

Thanks teacher! Two questions for you:

Do APS kids as a cohort generally score better than the Natl Average? (I'm guessing they do).

Are the composite scores going to be used in helping determining GT placement? My kid, who tends to drift off in class and not pay attention, scored super high. I'd like to use that as motivation to get her a little extra attention (I know APS doesn't do much for GT but anything would help).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The oral accuracy national average seemed strangely high to me in relation to the others, or at least my dd’s score on that one in particular seemed strangely low. She was in the blue zone for every section except that one, and even though she was above goal she was only at 30th percentile nationally. Maybe it has something to do with the way the test was administered in APS this year- easier to screw up.

OP here. The above is my exact experience and you make a great point. My daughter was in blue on all the other ones too, though some of the national comparisons even there seemed oddly high compared to other tests I’ve seen (and experiences in general). But with oral accuracy specifically, my daughter scored at 97 percent accuracy, which was 30 percentile nationally. It’s possible that 98 percent accuracy takes you up substantially on a percentile basis. But it’s still hard for me to believe that 70 percent of national 5th grade readers read at higher than 97 percent accuracy.

Yeah, I mentioned about. My kid score at 99 percent accuracy and was only at 79% (he is in 3rd). Who knows.

Thank you, are you a teacher? Do you find DIBELS to be more helpful than PALS?

I teach 4th. It is a lot easier to give than the PALS virtually because there are fewer subtests. We are still learning about it because APS did not start DIBELS administration until November. They wanted to get PALS (k-2) done first which takes much longer to administer.

The good I can see so far is that it just screens for the students who need an intervention. The downside is that it doesn’t really give a “level” like PALS does, that’s not the point. Howeve The parents want that info so as you can see from this it’s harder for them to understand and APS hasn’t done a great job of rolling it out or communicating to parents. Basically we are using the data to see who needs work on decoding and who needs work on comprehension. Anyone in the green or blue ranges is really totally fine or above.

APS is focusing on the composite score which supposedly has greater significance than the individual scores. So if that composite says you are fine, again, I would not worry about your child!!

The only part of this that really annoys me is that they sent us a report in the second week of December saying that the teachers are going to be learning how to use this in order to teach our kids appropriately. The year is half over.

Anonymous wrote:This is a normed test. It means that of all the 5th graders given this specific passage (which there are different passages for each grade level and each time of year, they don’t repeat) scored at or above or at or below your child.
Note that a 4th grade level reader to be reading on grade level should be able to read a grade level text at 95-96% accuracy at a minimum, with a specific number of words per minute (I can’t remember that number off the top of my head).


The PALS test is completely different as it is criterion referenced and not a normed assessment. I hope this makes sense. It is just a snapshot of one day. It’s not meant to give a level like the PALS. It’s meant to identify students at risk for not meeting grade level standards, that’s all.

Thank you, are you a teacher? Do you find DIBELS to be more helpful than PALS?

I don’t understand how they score this and get an overall assessment. Dd scores in the 70s on a few of the parts but had a 90+ Composite score. How is that possible?

This is a normed test. It means that of all the 5th graders given this specific passage (which there are different passages for each grade level and each time of year, they don’t repeat) scored at or above or at or below your child.
Note that a 4th grade level reader to be reading on grade level should be able to read a grade level text at 95-96% accuracy at a minimum, with a specific number of words per minute (I can’t remember that number off the top of my head).


The PALS test is completely different as it is criterion referenced and not a normed assessment. I hope this makes sense. It is just a snapshot of one day. It’s not meant to give a level like the PALS. It’s meant to identify students at risk for not meeting grade level standards, that’s all.

My 3rd grader received his lowest score in oral reading fluency accuracy as well (79% percentile). He has already completed the entire Lexia catalog (finished Level 21) so it must be a weird testing flaw. I'm not worried.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The oral accuracy national average seemed strangely high to me in relation to the others, or at least my dd’s score on that one in particular seemed strangely low. She was in the blue zone for every section except that one, and even though she was above goal she was only at 30th percentile nationally. Maybe it has something to do with the way the test was administered in APS this year- easier to screw up.[/quote]

OP here. The above is my exact experience and you make a great point. My daughter was in blue on all the other ones too, though some of the national comparisons even there seemed oddly high compared to other tests I’ve seen (and experiences in general). But with oral accuracy specifically, my daughter scored at 97 percent accuracy, which was 30 percentile nationally. It’s possible that 98 percent accuracy takes you up substantially on a percentile basis. But it’s still hard for me to believe that 70 percent of national 5th grade readers read at higher than 97 percent accuracy. [/quote]

So my 3rd graders scores for oral reading fluency was 99 and it said that he was assessed up to the 8th grade level. The 99 score only puts him at 79% nationally. I dont understand the national percentages.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP how did you get the scores? My Kinder kid got his PALS in the mail, but haven't heard anything about DIBELS scores yet. Do they come in the mail or are they up on parentvue?

You won’t get DIBELS if you got PALS

Sorry, I left out a few words. My 3rd grader has not received his DIBELS so I was wondering if it is going to come in the mail.

I received an email via ParentVUE with a message from the teacher and a copy of the DIBELS results.

Thank you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember the Dibels is a screener. It’s purpose is. It to measure your child’s achievement or potential. It’s meant to flag at-risk students. The virtual administration IMO affected both PALS and DIBELS scores. If your child is a strong reader and you didn’t have concerns prior, and you still don’t have concerns (meaning, the test says your child is meeting grade level benchmarks, in the green zone which is grade level), I would not worry. Also it’s the first year of DIBELS. did your child score in the yellow or red zones in any subtest?

This is OP. Thanks for the responses. No, no yellows or reds, but for accuracy of oral fluency (reading aloud), she barely scored in the green, with abysmal national percentiles on that one. And this is someone who has always read way above grade level and never have any concerns been raised about reading aloud. I asked my daughter and she said she didn’t think it was hard. I also asked about the virtual format and she said it was ok, but that the text was a little small.

Reading aloud, and without any mistakes or hesitations is a skill and one not mastered by independent silent reading which can be rushed. I wouldn't worry too much accept an awareness that you might want to have your 5th grader read aloud to you a few times a week and you do the same to the 5th grader to stress the importance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP how did you get the scores? My Kinder kid got his PALS in the mail, but haven't heard anything about DIBELS scores yet. Do they come in the mail or are they up on parentvue?

You won’t get DIBELS if you got PALS

Sorry, I left out a few words. My 3rd grader has not received his DIBELS so I was wondering if it is going to come in the mail.

I received an email via ParentVUE with a message from the teacher and a copy of the DIBELS results.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP how did you get the scores? My Kinder kid got his PALS in the mail, but haven't heard anything about DIBELS scores yet. Do they come in the mail or are they up on parentvue?

You won’t get DIBELS if you got PALS

Sorry, I left out a few words. My 3rd grader has not received his DIBELS so I was wondering if it is going to come in the mail.