https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 27 May 2026 15:58:13 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874419 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 21:56:31 +0000 MamaG 2874419@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Corduroy: we had an informational night at our school on the testing and it was so helpful in understanding how the scores are done and some techniques to work on with our students. Again, since she’s in a Spanish program we own working on English instruction at home so I didn’t find the tasks unreasonable but i can see why others would. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874418 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 21:52:58 +0000 MamaG 2874418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our school uses Dibels. If you search you will find a post i started on it. My girl was a slightly early reader and it has been interesting to track her progress from kinder through 2nd grade. We did paractice some of the items at home. Nonsense words and letter identification in a minute. Part of that is due to the language program she is in resulting in some of the school items coming home. We also did the sight words at home and let the teacher know when she was ready to test (she tested early). Reading is such a basis for all education that I can see the value in it. I’m curious what the drills are. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874413 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 21:08:59 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2874413@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Corduroy: if the teacher is teaching there should be no problem with a child who is regularly exposed to books and language to meet those benchmarks. Likely she is getting pressure and passing it on to you. I would really not worry about it at all. If at the end of the year she isnt at grade level, I would maybe try to determine why, but honestly I wouldnt worry about the pressure. You can't force kids to be ready for learning to read. ETA: the only reason theybqouldnconsider retaining a kindergartener in my district would be severe academic and social developmental delay that they think another year of kindergarten would fix, which is exceptionally rare. All districts are different but I cannot imagine that not meeting the Dibels benchmark would be sufficient grounds for that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874411 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 21:03:54 +0000 Corduroy 2874411@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for all the input. I'll try to work on some letter sound games outside of homework time and leave the drills out of it for now.</p> <p>For clarity, the teacher didn't say the drills are mandatory. It's the scores on the tests that have 'mandatory minimums'. For example, "the mandatory minimum on the (letter sound test I don't recall the name of) is 40 correctly identified sounds in one minute." DD doesn't understand the test because she keeps trying to spell the words (she much prefers spelling to sounding out). 'Mandatory minimum' makes it sound like she won't pass Kindergarten - which I can't imagine is true. I would even feel silly asking the teacher if it's true. Why all the high pressure language??? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874374 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:23:05 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2874374@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Let go of the drills! Dibels is not something you should practice for. It is an assessment that measures reading ability by tracking growth in certain areas that usually signal overall success in reading. If you practice for the assessment it invalidates the results. </p> <p>Talking about letter sounds, or how to break apart words into chunks to sound them out while you read authentic texts together is the best thing you can do. Skills can be practiced in a way that doesn't drive kids away from reading. The most important thing kids learn in the early years is to love to read. If they hate it, they will never master it, because once they become an independent reader the only way they grow is LOTS of independent reading. I would preserve love of reading at all costs. Even if it means they develop slower.</p> <p>Editing to add more info: </p> <p>From this article about the Myths about Dibels<br /> <a href="https://acadiencelearning.org/papers/Myths_0208.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://acadiencelearning.org/papers/Myths_0208.pdf</a></p> <p>Misuse 2: Teaching the test and/or artificially raising DIBELS scores without teaching the critical skills.<br /> Appropriate Use: DIBELS are designed as indicators of an underlying basic early literacy skill. The<br /> DIBELS materials should never be used for practice or<br /> instructional purposes. The focus of instruction should<br /> be on the basic early literacy skill, not the test.<br /> Because DIBELS subtests are indicators of important<br /> skills, it is important to teach the skills not the test.<br /> DIBELS work well as a test, but the DIBELS test materials have not been designed for and should not be<br /> used for instruction or to practice. There are many<br /> effective research-based curricula and programs as<br /> well as fun and engaging activities that parents and<br /> teachers can use to teach phonemic awareness, the<br /> alphabetic principle, vocabulary, and comprehension<br /> in ways that will help a child become an accurate and<br /> fluent reader. A child who learns the underlying skills<br /> through integrated and meaningful early literacy activities does well on DIBELS and, more importantly,<br /> is on a trajectory to becoming a skilled reader. Teaching or practicing the test may raise DIBELS scores,<br /> but to do so artificially without changing the underlying skills may be harmful to children by preventing<br /> them from getting the support they need to be successful readers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874356 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:50:14 +0000 Anagram 2874356@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Corduroy: Read this: it's so interesting. <a href="http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/should-we-test-reading-or-dibels" rel="nofollow">http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/should-we-test-reading-or-dibels</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874347 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:16:40 +0000 JennyPenny 2874347@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: Sorry, I must have misinterpreted your post. It sounds like we're in agreement that there is an important distinction between practicing skills in engaging and age appropriate ways and drilling. And that both building the fundamentals and having positive shared reading experiences are important. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874346 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:16:26 +0000 Becky 2874346@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oof that sounds like a lot for K! I feel like our teacher may have mentioned doing Dibels. The only homework we get is math, and for reading our school currently has 3 reading challenges going on (wah—I’m definitely not doing all of them as they require tracking) which I assume is supposed to be covering reading comprehension. In the fall they did send home a list of about 20 sight words and indicated the ones we should practice (things like am and at which she was reversing to ma and ta). I basically ran through the list and had her read them, and I know my SIL had her do it once too. That was it—we didn’t work on them again. Flash cards/drills would not go over well with my DD. I also like doing dinner table things like rhyming/another word that ends in the same letter/etc. I’m definitely of the party that 5 is very young to have any expectations about reading. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874344 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:09:12 +0000 Anagram 2874344@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: I didn't say fundamentals shouldn't be practiced--but there are a ton of studies about reluctant readers out there and many of the practices teachers use in a well meaning way to teach actually turn kids off to reading. There are a lot of fun ways a 5 year old could be learning phonemic awareness that don't involve intense drills. It just isn't age appropriate. My 5 year old is reading on a spring 2nd grade level and I've never done any kind of drilling homework with her, and I've never seen any evidence of her class doing it at school. She does like to read though, and she reads about 1 beginner reader every day. And of course, we still read 1-2 books to her before bedtime, but nothing intensive and very little direct instruction. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874328 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 13:25:00 +0000 JennyPenny 2874328@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: While I agree that reading engaging stories with your child is still super important, I disagree about not practicing fundamental skills with reluctant readers. I would avoid "drill and kill" for sure, but practicing the fundamentals like phonemic awareness and alphabetic principle set kids up to be successful when they want to read on their own. You need both. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874322 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 12:55:21 +0000 Anagram 2874322@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Corduroy: The school my Kinder kiddo is in uses DRA assessments, not Dibels. And the elementary school I used to work in also used DRA. I googled Dibels, and there's a lot of negative information about it online. A lot of people in the educational world feel it's outdated and outmoded and overall, kind of a negative thing for kids and teachers. There's even evidence that the DIBELS test isn't even accurate for predicting reading skills. Even if it were a good assessment, there's no reason for a K kid to be getting mandatory "drills" all the time. </p> <p>The fact that you say your kiddo is already kind of reluctant about reading--that's concerning. Because it's that kind of kid that is going to be turned off by turning reading into drill-and-kill. Reading at her age should be fun! Mainly you reading to her and the easiest beginner books that she finds interesting for her to try to read. More than phonemic awareness or comprehension or alphabetic principle, the single most important predictive factor for having a good reader is having a kid who enjoys reading. The pleasure has to be there to drive the interest, and the rest will come. KWIM? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874310 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 12:05:46 +0000 KT326 2874310@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes, my son had this assessment in Kinder and I think in 1st grade as well (I know he has had some assessments done in 1st, I just don't know if they are specifically dibels). We never had "manadatory" practice at home, just homework. But we would do what @JennyPenny mentioned. Just basic practicing of phonemes whenever we thought of it. Most of the time DS would be the one initiating it and we would just do it until he got bored of it and moved on. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874309 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 11:59:46 +0000 Jess1483 2874309@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @JennyPenny: . I used dibels a bit when I taught second grade, but so far haven’t seen it at my kindergartner’s school. BUT, I teach 3/4 preschool, and I do very basic phonemic awareness things with my kiddos (snake starts with “s,” what other words do you know that start with /s/?) I actually think it’s more important at this age (my 3/4s) to understand and be able to hear, segment, and blend sounds than to know the letter names and sounds. That part comes easily later if the foundation is there. </p> <p>That doesn’t mean I necessarily think the drills are the best way to go about it, but I do think finding some sort of way to practice phonemic awareness is important. We do it around the breakfast table with my boys, and get really really silly and changing the first letter to make new words. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874308 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 11:53:27 +0000 JennyPenny 2874308@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not an educator, but involved in research in early literacy. I can't speak to the drills you've been given, but phonemic awareness is a really important skill for becoming a fluent reader and its something you can just talk about in the car or at the table. "How many different sounds are in mat? What is the first sound? The middle? The last? What happens if you change the 'mmm' to a 'c'?" These are just some examples of ways to talk about phonemes (and they are increasingly difficult so don't worry if it seems hard) but I think having those kinds of conversations will be helpful both on the DIBELS assessments and in learning to read in general. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/dibels-assessment#post-2874304 Thu, 28 Feb 2019 11:37:01 +0000 Corduroy 2874304@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do your kids take this assessment at school? Do they have homework to practice for it? (Also interested in opinions from educators)</p> <p>DD's Kindergarten teacher has us doing drills at night on top of the daily homework and reading. She's also listed "mandatory standards" for each portion of the assessment. </p> <p>I wouldn't classify DD as a 'reader' yet but she's coming along very reluctantly. I really don't want to drive her nuts with drills. </p> <p>She is extremely frustrated by the 'segmenting words into phonemes' part (phonemic awareness). Honestly, I'm not even sure that I could do it without a lot of practice. </p> <p>My instinct is just to ignore it all but I'm a rule follower and the 'mandatory' label is nagging at me. </p> <p>Can I let go of these drills and this worry? </p>