The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy
Skills (DIBELS) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures
of early literacy development. They are designed to be short (one minute)
fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and
early reading skills.
The measures were developed upon the essential
early literacy domains discussed in both the National Reading Panel (2000) and
National Research Council (1998) reports to assess student development of
phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, and automaticity and fluency
with the code. Each measure has been thoroughly researched and demonstrated to
be reliable and valid indicators of early literacy development and predictive
of later reading proficiency to aid in the early identification of students
who are not progressing as expected. Administered three times a year: fall,
winter, and spring, the results can be used to evaluate individual student
development as well as provide grade-level feedback toward validated
instructional objectives.
Our school began using the DIBELS assessments
three years ago, when we were selected to be one of nine schools in Alabama to
join the Beginning Reading Model. This model centers around the "Big Ideas"
of Reading: phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principal, fluency, vocabulary,
and comprehension. Please click on the
BIBR website for more information on this model. You can also visit the
official DIBELS site for more
information regarding these measures.
