Dibels
2012-2013 DIBELS
Over the past year, all of the articles I have written have been posted on the Garfield School District web page. The article with the most interest was DIBELS with nearly 1000 hits. With this amount of interest, I have decided to continue with an additional article addressing the new changes in DIBELS. DIBELS is a reading assessment given to all elementary students in First through Sixth grades. Utah State Board rule R 277-403 mandates all districts to administer the reading assessment and report the results to the parents and the Utah State Office of Education. In the 2012-2013 school year, the District will be required to provide the following information:
A. LEAs (Garfield School District) shall administer the Board approved benchmark assessments (DIBELS) at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of grade one, grade two and grade three within testing windows determined by USOE.
B. Before the midpoint of the school year, each LEA or school within an LEA, shall identify every student currently enrolled in the school who is in the first, second or third grade who is not reading at grade level.
C. If a benchmark assessment or supplemental reading assessment indicates a student lacks proficiency in a reading skill, the LEA shall:
(1) provide notice to parents of student’s lack of proficiency;
(2) provide information to the parent or guardian regarding appropriate interventions available to the student outside regular instructional time that may include tutoring, before and after school programs, or summer school;
(3) provide focused intervention to develop the reading skill;
(4) administer formative assessments to measure the success of the focused intervention; and
(5) inform the student’s parent or guardian of activities that the parent or guardian may engage in with the student to assist the student in improving reading proficiency.
D. LEAs shall report to parents in the beginning, by February 15, and at the end of grade one, grade two and grade three, assessment results.
E. LEAs shall also report to parents the student’s reading level at the end of third grade.
F. LEAs shall provide as part of the Clearinghouse Data Submission, the following information:
(1) the number of students in each of grades 1, 2 and 3 that were reading below grade level at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the school year;
(2) the number of students in each grade level that were reading below grade level at the midpoint of the school year and who received reading remediation interventions;
(3) the name of each student in grades 1, 2 and 3 and a designation of whether the student is reading at grade level or below grade level; and
(4) the name of each student in grades 1, 2 and 3 who received reading interventions as required under R277-403-3G in the prior school year.
I will be requesting that all elementary schools contact parents who have students reading below grade level in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades. If you are contacted by the school with information stating your student is not currently on grade level, please take time to meet with your student’s teacher to develop a plan for interventions. If you are not contacted by the school, please ask your student’s teacher about the DIBELS testing results. Early intervention is the key to a student’s reading success. If a 3rd grade student is identified as reading below grade level in the third grade, the chances of the student catching up with their peers is very unlikely. In fact, according to a study done by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, the third grade reading scores are also an indicator of the student’s success in middle school, high school and college enrollment. For students who fall in the ‘below grade level’ category in the 3rd grade the likelihood for the student to pass middle school or enroll in college was significantly reduced. For more information related to this study, please see the following link:
http://www.chapinhall.org/sites/default/files/Reading_on_Grade_Level_111710.pdf
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
Superintendent
Ben Dalton
