1. Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
DIBELS
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills

2. What is DIBELS? 1. A test that measures growth and development.
2. A timed reading test that is given 3 times a year. (August, December, and April)
3. A tool that helps teachers identify reading strengths and weaknesses.
4. A tool that helps teachers improve reading instruction for children.

3. DIBELS in Kindergarten
Name of Test Date Given
1. Letter Naming Fluency August
2. Initial Sound Fluency Aug., Dec., April
3. Phone Segmentation Dec., April
4. Nonsense Words Dec., April

4. LETTER NAMING FLUENCY
Tests to see how many upper and lower case letters a student can identify in one minute.
If the student doesn’t know the letter, the teacher will tell it to them after 3 seconds.
If the student can not name any letters on the first row, the test is stopped and a score of 0 is earned.
Kindergarten students are expected to know every upper and lower case letter by December.
LNF is administered once in August during the first testing session.

5. LETTER NAMING FLUENCY EXAMPLE
W R Z Y c m M t q L ___/10
B l n I U n w N x K ___/10
T y L Q z D h e M Y ___/10
E P a W T R Z Y c a ___/10

6. INITIAL SOUND FLUENCY
This test measures the child’s ability to hear and say the first sound in a word.
The teacher will say a word and the child has to produce the first sound in that word.
If no answer is given within 3 seconds, the teacher will move on to the next word.
If the student misses 5 in a row, the test is discontinued and a score of 0 is given.
ISF is administered for all three testing sessions; August, December, and April.

7. Initial Sound Fluency Example
Teacher: “What sound do you hear at the beginning of pig?”
Student: “/p/
Teacher: Car
Student: /C/
Teacher: Wheel
Student: /w/

8. PHONEME SEGMENTATION FLUENCY
Measures the ability to hear and say every sound in a word.
1 point is given for every correct sound made.
If the student cannot produce the sounds in a word, the teacher will move on to the next word.
If no correct sound is given in the first 5 words, the test will be discontinued and a score of 0 will be earned.

9. PHONEME SEGMENTATION FLUENCY EXAMPLE
Teacher: Tell me all the sounds you hear in the word; Cat.
Student:/c/ /a/ /t/
Teacher : Tree Student: /t/ /r/ /e/
Teacher: steps
Student: /s/ /t/ /e/ /p/ /s/

10. NONSENSE WORD FLUENCY
Measures how well the student knows the sounds of letters and are able to blend them together to form words.
Nonsense words are NOT real words.
Nonsense words are used so that the teacher knows your child is connecting the sound to the letter rather than recognizing the word by sight.
On the NWF assessment, students are shown a “nonsense word” containing 2 or 3 letters and asked to read the word. Credit is given for each correct sound given and added credit if he/she reads the word without saying each individual sound.
Only short vowel sounds are used for NWF testing.

11. NONSENSE WORD FLUENCY EXAMPLE
sob gab tet buf hax __/15 jaf hub cet muf nuv __/15

12. DIBELS WRAP UP
Parents and students are important partners in any educator's efforts to improve reading outcomes.
Research indicates that early identification and early intervention are essential for helping students who are at risk for reading difficulties.