DIBELS ® Assess the Basic Early Literacy Skills 2

What is Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)? Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) is a brief, direct measure of the alphabetic principle and basic phonics. It assesses knowledge of basic letter-sound correspondences and the ability to blend letter sounds into consonant-vowel-consonant and vowel-consonant words. What’s new for Next? –New early reader font –Item stratification (medial vowels strategically planned) –New directions –New scoring –New reminders or prompts –Indication of response patterns 3

Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) 4

Assessor shows a page of nonsense words to student. Student reads the words. Score: Number of correct letter sounds (CLS) student reads in 1 minute. Number of whole words read (WWR) without first being sounded out. DIBELS ® Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) 5

Administration Directions Place the booklet on the clipboard, positioned so that the student cannot see what you record. Follow these directions exactly each time with each student. Say the words in bold italic type verbatim. 6

NWF Practice Item 7

During the Testing Start the stopwatch after you say begin. Follow along and mark according to the scoring rules. At the end of 1 minute, place a bracket after the last letter sound produced (even if it’s in the middle of a nonsense word), say Stop, and stop the stopwatch. If the student completes the assessment before 1 minute, assessment stops and he/she receives the score obtained. Scores are not pro-rated. 8

Scoring Rules 1.Underline each letter sound the student says correctly, either in isolation or blended together with other sounds in the word. 2.Put a slash ( / ) over each letter sound read incorrectly. 3.Leave blank any omitted letter sounds or words. When the student is reading sound-by-sound, leave blank any inserted letter sounds. When the student is reading word-by-word, slash the underline to indicate any inserted letter sounds. This does not count as WWR. 4.Write “sc” above any letter sound or word that had been previously slashed and was self-corrected within 3 seconds. Count that letter sound or word as correct Credit is only given for WWR when the student reads the whole word completely and correctly the first time, and only reads the word once. 5.Draw a line through any row the student skips. Do not count the row when scoring. 6.Final answer is what gets scored! 9

Scores Correct Letter Sounds (CLS): the number of letter sounds produced correctly in 1 minute. For example, if the student reads dif as /d/ /i/ /f/ the score for Correct Letter Sounds is 3. If the student reads dif as /di/ /f/ or “dif,” the score is also 3. Whole Words Read (WWR): the number of make-believe words read correctly as a whole word without first being sounded out. For example, if the student reads dif as “dif,” the score is 3 points for CLS and 1 point for WWR, but if the student reads dif as “/d/ /i/ /f/ dif,” the score is 3 points for CLS but 0 points for WWR. Note: No more WRC (words recoded correctly) because we want students to look at the word and read it without sounding it out by the middle of 1st grade. 10

Scoring Rule 1 11 Underline each letter sound the student says correctly, either in isolation or in the context of the make-believe word. For scoring correct letter sounds (CLS), score the student’s final answer. For scoring whole words read (WWR), only give credit if the student's first and only answer was to read the whole word correctly without first sounding it out.

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 12

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 13

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 14

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 15

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 16

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 17

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 18

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 19

Scoring Rule 1: Underline Correct Letter Sounds 20

Practice Scoring Rule

Scoring Rule 2: Slash Incorrect Letter Sounds 22 Put a slash through any incorrect letter sound.

Scoring Rule 2: Slash Incorrect Letter Sounds 23

Scoring Rule 2: Slash Incorrect Letter Sounds 24

Scoring Rule 2: Slash Incorrect Letter Sounds 25

Scoring Rule 3: Leave blank omissions or insertions 26 Note: Leave blank any omitted letter sounds or words. Leave blank any inserted sounds if the student is reading sound-by- sound.. Put a slash through the underline to indicate inserted sounds when the student is reading word by word. No credit is given for WWR when a sound is inserted.

Scoring Rule 4: Self-Corrections 27 Write “sc” above any letter sound that had been previously slashed and was self-corrected within 3 seconds. Count that letter sound as correct. No credit is given for WWR unless the student reads the whole word completely and correctly the first time, and only reads the word once.

Scoring Rule 4: Self Corrections 28

Scoring Rule 5: Skipping Line 29 Draw a line through any row the student skips. Do not count the row when scoring.

Discontinue Rule: First 5 Words 30 0 If the student does not get any sounds correct in the first 5 words, discontinue the task and record a score of zero (0).

Wait Rule for NWF: 3 Seconds Maximum time per letter sound/word is 3 seconds. If the student does not say the next letter sound/word within 3 seconds, score the letter sound/word incorrect. Tell the student the correct sound/word. If providing the correct letter- sound or word does not prompt the student to continue, say Keep going. 31

Reminders If the student does not go left to right, say, Go this way. If the student says letter-names, say, Say the sounds, not the letter names. If the student reads the word first, then says the letter-sounds, prompt, Just read the word. If the student says all of the letter sounds correctly in the first row, but does not make any attempt to blend or recode, say: Try to read the words as whole words. These reminders may only be used once. 32

Reminders If the student stops reading (and it’s not a hesitation on a specific item), say Keep going. If the student loses her/his place while reading, point. These reminders may be used as often as needed. 33

Notes Schwa sounds (/u/) added to consonants are not counted as errors when the student is saying letter sounds. Students are not penalized for imperfect pronunciation due to dialect, articulation delays, or for pronunciations due to speaking a first language other than English. 34

Immediately After Testing Reset the stopwatch for the next measure. Make a note about any patterns in student responses that were not captured by the marking procedures. 35

At a Later Time Compute the Final Score Add number of correct letter sounds (CLS) and whole words read (WWR) for each line (up to bracket). Record total for each line in space provided in right column of scoring page. Add number of correct letter sounds from each line. Record total correct letter sounds in space provided in lower right corner of scoring page. Add number of whole words read correctly and record in same space

Final Score: Cover Sheet Transfer total number of CLS and WWR from scoring page to the front of the testing booklet.

NWF Review How do I mark letter sounds that are read correctly? Underline each letter sound read correctly, in isolation or blended or in the context of the whole word. How do I mark letter sounds that are read incorrectly? Slash letter sounds read incorrectly. What do I do if the student hesitates for 3 seconds when reading sound-by-sound? Say the sound, slash the letter. If necessary, redirect. What do I do if the student hesitates for 3 seconds when reading word-by-word? Say the word, slash the word. If necessary, redirect. 38

NWF Review cont’d. What do I do if the student reads sounds out of order when reading sound-by-sound? If the student points correctly to the sounds, score as correct. What do I do if the student reads sounds out of order when reading word-by-word? Mark as incorrect. If the vowel sound is read in the correct position, it can be scored as 1 CLS point. No WWR points would be given. 39

NWF Practice # ] 11 1

NWF Practice # ]

NWF Summary Start timer after you say Begin. Correct (underline letter(s) or word) Incorrect (slash letter) Incorrect (leave blank) Says correct sound for letter Correctly blends letter sounds Reads word correctly Pronounces sound incorrectly due to articulation delay/dialect/different first language Says incorrect sound for letter Incorrectly blends letter sounds Reads word incorrectly Hesitates for 3 seconds on letter or word Adds sound Omits sound Self-correct: Write “SC” above letter(s)/word and score as correct. Skips row: Draw a line through the entire row and do not count. 3 Second Wait Rule: Name the letter/word, score as incorrect (slash) and, if necessary, point to the next letter/word and ask, “What letter/word?”. Sound order: Letter sounds correctly named in isolation but out of order are correct. Blended letter sounds must be in correct order to be counted as correct. Discontinue rule: No letter sounds correct in the first five words. 42