Dibels Test
This week I will focus on a few of the required testing assessments we give in the Garfield School District. We are mandated by law to provide 23 different types of assessment to our students in Kindergarten to 12th grade. I wanted to discuss the DIBELS reading assessment used at all elementary schools in the District. The testing is mandated by Senate Bill 150 which reads as follows:
1. Basic Requirements: SB150 There are three basic provisions of Senate Bill 150.
• LEAs (Garfield School District) shall report to parents of all children in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades
a. if the child is below grade level in reading at the midpoint of the year, and
b. reading interventions available at the school/district.
• LEAs must provide reading remediation interventions to students identified as below grade level.
• LEAs shall report to USOE (Utah State Office of Education)
a. the number of students reading below grade level at the midpoint of the year, and
b. the number of students identified as being below grade level who received reading intervention.
2. Common Assessment By Board Rule, every student in Grades 1, 2, and 3 will be given the DIBELS Next Middle of Year (MOY) DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) Benchmark Assessment. This assessment consists of each student reading three grade level passages for one minute each. Only “Words Correct” (number of words read correctly in one minute) and “Accuracy” (percent of the total words read that were read correctly) are used in the “Grade Level” determination.
3. Timeline for Assessment and Reporting
• Students are to be assessed in January (no sooner than after Winter Break and no later than January 31st).
• LEAs must notify parents by February 15th.
• LEAs must submit required data to USOE by February 28th.
• LEAs must complete the required fields in their student information system for the Clearinghouse report due in July.
• Exceptions to this timeline must be approved by USOE.
4. Data Reported to The Utah State Office of Education
• By February 28th LEAs will report
a. the number of students per grade level (1st, 2nd and 3rd),
b. the number designated as “Below Grade Level,” (see Item 6 below), and
c. the number of students in each grade in the three DORF categories: Benchmark, Strategic, and Intensive
DIBELS link: https://dibels.uoregon.edu/benchmark.php
Three tests that high school students will be involved in are: EXPLORE, PLAN and ACT. Typically, students take EXPLORE in the 8th or 9th grade, PLAN as sophomores, and the ACT as juniors or seniors. All three tests involve English, math, reading, and science. However, the material tested in each program gets more difficult. Testing information about your child’s career plans, interests, high school coursework plans.
On a different note, please take some time to fill out the survey on the pool and Panguitch High renovations. You can find the link to the survey on the District web page. I will present the results of the survey in the next board meeting.
I would also like to recognize and thank all those who spent time preparing and presenting for the “Utah’s Past and Present/Intrigue of the Past” presentation for all fourth grade students in the District. Several people volunteer their time to make this a great success each year. A special thanks to Vicki Syrett who is coordinator of this wonderful program. The students enjoyed two full days of learning through interaction and entertainment. Thanks again to everyone who was involved in this program.
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”-Dr. Seuss
–Superintendent Ben Dalton
