Background

Student Metric

All reading inventories are broken into several sections, one for each skill assessed. The student is asked a series of questions and receives points for correct answers.  The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of assessments used for universal screening and progress monitoring in grade K-6.  The lastest version of DIBELS (DIBELS Next, which is the most current version released in 2010-2011) has a composite score as well as section scores (or measures).  DIBELS 6th Edition has section/measure scores, but does not have composite scores(only a measure of overall risk).  For the classroom educator, the value of these assessments lies within the individual section scores.  Unlike reading level assessments, the sections and tasks for inventories are based on the time of year and the grade level of the student.  Most inventories are given multiple times a year and vary slightly based on both the time of year and the grade of the student.  DIBELS is either given three of four times a year (at campus and district discretion).

DIBELS is designed to assess six early literacy skills:

• Phonemic Awareness
• Alphabetic Principal and Basic Phonics
• Advanced Phonics and Word Attack Skills
• Accurate and Fluent Reading of Connected Text
• Reading Comprehension
• Vocabulary and Language
• Skills

These six skills each correspond with a section of the assessment.  
DIBELS Next:

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

In DIBELS Next, the composite score is a combination of multiple DIBELS scores, which provides the best overall estimate of the student's reading proficiency. 

Each section, as well as the composite score, has both a benchmark goal and a cut point for risk.  Students at or above the benchmark goal will most likely (approximately 80-90%) achieve later important reading outcomes with regular classroom instruction ("Core" support).  Students between the goal and cut point for risk are identified as "Below Benchmark," will likely need "Strategic" support, and their future performance is harder to predict.  Students below the cut point for risk are identified as "Well Below Benchmark" and are unlikely (approximately 10-20%) to achieve subsequent goals without receiving additional, targeted instructional ("Intensive") support.    
DIBELS 6^th will not be used at all as of 2013. For this reason, we should not implement a metric that can accommodate the older version for Texas.

Primary Metric

• DIBELS: a student's score on the most recent administration of the DIBELS assessment

User Interface

Dashboard Example

Figure 1 shows the DIBELS Assessment as seen on the student dashboard.

Figure 1 TSDS DIBELS 

Status Definition on the Dashboard

The Status indicator is determined by campus-specific thresholds (campus goals) which are set at the district level. The default threshold is a score of 119.

Table 2 Metric Indicators for TSDS DIBELS

Metric Indicators
Metric Name	Metric Status  Indicator (a)	Trend
DIBELS	Red  = the score is less than the goal Green = the score is greater than or equal to the goal
Prior Year DIBELS	Red  = the score is less than the goal Green = the score is greater than or equal to the goal

(a) For each subject, the Value column displays the student's score for the Reading Assessment.

Trend Definition

Table 3 lists the trend indicators for the DIBELS metric. 

The trend does not display if the student has not taken a previous DIBELS assessment.

Table 3 Trend Indicators for DIBELS

Trend Indicators: Objective is to indicate DIBELS performance
	Up green	If the value for the assessment has gotten better than that of the prior administration.
	Unchanged	If the value for assessment has not changed since the prior administration.
	Down red	If the value for the assessment has gotten worse than that of the prior administration.

Delta Definition

Table 4 Delta Indicators for TSDS DIBELS

Delta Indicators: Objective is to indicate DIBELS performance
Metric Name	Campus Goal	Delta
DIBELS	Set Campus Goal	Red (Percentage) = if the calculated delta is less than the campus goal Black (Percentage) = if the calculated delta is equal to or greater than the campus goal

 

Periodicity

Table 4 Recommended Load Characteristics for TSDS DIBELS

Recommended Load Characteristics
Calendar	Beginning, Middle and End of Year
Frequency of data load	Three times a year
Latency	School Year
Interchange schema	Interchange-StudentAssessment.xsd

Tooltips

The standard tool tips for the metric definition, column headers, and help functions display for this metric.

• Green metric status: OK
• Red metric status: LOW
•  'More' indicates drilldown views for this metric.
• "Getting better from the prior period."
• "Getting worse from the prior period."
• "No change from the prior period."

Business Rules

The DIBELS Next Performance metric displays the student’s most recent DIBELS Next test results (see Table 5).
Two scores are shown:

• Composite score - DIBELS composite score is displayed under the Status column.
• Benchmark cut score - DIBELS benchmark cut score based on the testing period taken is displayed under the Value column.

This metric displays the most recent DIBELS test data.  For the early part of the school year, until current year values are available, the values reflect the most recent prior school year DIBELS scores. When the current year test results are received and loaded, the display is updated.

If the student took the same DIBELS test multiple times in a testing period [BOY (Beginning of Year), MOY (Middle of Year), or EOY (End of Year)], the most recent score is displayed, and if MOY or EOY, the prior testing period score is used for comparison. 
The Table below lists the DIBELS Next Composite Cut Scores in each grade and testing period.

DIBELS Next Composite Score Benchmark Goals and Cut Points for Risk
Grade and Testing Period	Cutpoint for Risk	Benchmark Goal
K - BOY	13	26
K - MOY	85	122
K - EOY	89	119
1 - BOY	97	113
1 - MOY	100	130
1 - EOY	111	155
2 - BOY	109	141
2 - MOY	145	190
2 - EOY	180	238
3 - BOY	180	220
3 - MOY	235	285
3 - EOY	280	330
4 - BOY	245	290
4 - MOY	290	330
4 - EOY	330	391
5 - BOY	258	357
5 - MOY	310	372
5 - EOY	340	415
6 - BOY	280	344
6 - MOY	285	358
6 - EOY	324	380

 
Data Assumptions

• Student DIBELS Next scores by test measures are available for the appropriate grade level (as identified in Table 5).
• Grading or time period the test was taken, and the date the test was taken, are available.
• The defined thresholds of "Benchmark" or "Core" , “Strategic” , and "Intensive" are indicated by the cut scores in the table above.
• All test measure scores are available, as well as corresponding Risk Measures or Status definitions.
• Historical test scores for each student are available in the test provider files for the current and previous years.  If these are not available, best practice is for a developer to obtain test files from prior years so that historical scores are included.

Data Anomalies

Anomalies

• Metrics are sensitive to when and how often the data is loaded.
• Late enrollees are likely to be missing previous assessment data.

Best practice is to use footnotes to address these anomalies.

Date of Refresh
Best practice is for the date of last data refresh to appear next the metric in the following format:

• (Through April 2011) - container level
• (2011 5th Grade BOY) - granular level

Implementation Considerations

Reporting Different Versions of DIBELS Tests

Because of non-comparability, different editions of the DIBELS test are treated as separate and unique metrics.
 

Reporting Retakes of the Same DIBELS Test

Currently the metric reports the most recent result for a given DIBELS test by type, grade level, and subject.  Alternatively, developers may show results for each time a test is taken within a testing period to see the progress a student has made.
 

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