Digging Deeper with DIBELS Data RtI TAC Summer Institute June 2011 Michelle Fitzsimmons Debbie DePalma

Session 1 Overview DIBELS as an informal diagnostic- purpose of DIBELS Use 4 step process to analyze DIBELS booklet pages (I’ve DIBEL’d Now What?) Review Assessment Audit and Share Additional Assessments to Dig Deeper

DIBELS as Informal Diagnostic DIBELS measures, by design, are indicators of each of the Basic Early Literacy Skills. For example, DIBELS do not measure all possible phonemic awareness skills such as rhyming, alliteration, blending, and segmenting. Instead, the DIBELS measure of phonemic awareness, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), is designed to be an indicator of a student’s progress toward the long-term phonemic awareness outcome of segmenting words. The notion of DIBELS as indicators is a critical one. It is this feature of DIBELS that distinguishes it from other assessments and puts it in a class of assessments known as General Outcome Measures.

Diagnostic Assessment Occurs before instruction Often focuses on one area or domain of knowledge. It can provide educators with information about each student's prior knowledge before beginning instruction. Educators can use a diagnostic assessment to assist them in developing lesson plans and providing differentiated instruction to meet students' needs.

Screening and Diagnostic Assessments We first use screening tests to determine a general pattern of difficulty. Then we use diagnostic tests to determine specific needs. What system do you have in place to ensure this happens?

Analyzing Student Booklet Step 1 analyze the whole picture Step 2 Note areas of concern or questions Step 3 Study error patterns of the booklet pages Step 4 Summarize Observations for intervention lesson plan

Review of Student Data Emily and Enrique Mid Year First Grade See Handout

Step 1 Analyze Whole Picture Emily whole picture: PSF emerging NWF deficit ORF Some risk How are Emily and Enrique the same? Different? What does this tell us about DIBELS

Step 2 Note areas of Concern Where does each student fall in terms of benchmark expectations? Describe each students strengths and concerns based on beginning and mid year data Enrique: Emily:

Step 3 Error Patterns (refer to handouts) Divide into groups: Group 1 PSF data Group 2 NWF data Group 3 ORF data

Step 4 Summarize observations for Intervention Lesson Plan Share whole group the finding for each of Emily’s probes: PSF NWF ORF What does this mean for Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 instruction?

Apply 4 Step Process Choose one student booklet, using the graphic organizer complete the 5 step process for 1 student

Digging Deeper Assessments Donna Goldberg- PA Assessment Decoding Surveys 95% Group assessment ERDA

Running Reading Records & DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency Purpose -determine text level assess performance on independent text- accuracy, fluency and comprehension -understand fluency rate - monitor progress Administration during guided reading during independent reading timed assessment standardized Points to Consider Running reading records determine text level based on Fountas and Pinnell Text leveling criteria. ORF assess and monitors student progress on predetermined text, leveled by text readability.

Sequence of Assessments Benchmark screening assessment Progress Monitor to validate scores Analyze Student Responses Diagnostic Assessments validate/dig deeper Use information to develop differentiated plans for students Progress Monitor- adjust instruction as needed

Current State- Data Rubric Review the data rubric, highlight green areas of strength, yellow areas you developing in, and pink, areas that need attention Describe the 3 most important next steps for you- chart on paper

Child-Focused Instruction Review data at the student level. Understand the learning strengths and needs of each child. Use flexible grouping to target instruction. (Guided Reading, Writer’s Workshop, Small Group Skill Instruction)

Flexible Grouping Strategy T.A.P.S. (T) Total group: there may be information and new skills that need to be shared or demonstrated to the whole class. (A) Alone: Sometimes students need to practice by working alone as they will on standardized tests. In life, we often think and work independently of others. (P) Partners: partnering gives students a narrow audience with whom to share ideas, discuss new information, or process learning. (may be random or teacher-constructed) (S) Small groups: there are many ways of forming small groups. Groups of three to five may be constructed for a variety of purposes.

What Do I Teach During Small Group Instruction and Intervention? How do I teach? How does the lesson format change based on student reading proficiency? Students at an advanced level of instruction Students at a benchmark level of instruction Students at a strategic level of instruction Students at an intensive level of instruction How do I extend learning for struggling readers?

Differentiated Small Group Instruction Utilize various forms of student assessment data to assist in instructional planning. oral reading fluency accuracy rate phonics skills students may have deficits in, which impact their fluency. Comprehension/vocabulary data

Question to Consider: How does the classroom teacher balance time devoted to the different components?

Fitting It All Together Through the Four Part Lesson Plan, teachers are provided with a structure that incorporates grade level skill development, targeted skill instruction based on need, vocabulary development and reading with connected text into a guided reading lesson.

Explicit Lesson Planning Template Warm-Up (PA, Phonics, Word Study (5 minutes) Whole Word Reading/ Vocabulary Development (5 minutes) Sentence Reading and Dictation or Development based on vocabulary words. Reading of Connected Text/Literature Circles - Speaking and Listening Skills - Vocabulary - Comprehension - Strategy Use - Follow-up Activity or Project Written Response to Text

Differentiated Lesson Plan Review lesson plans for Intensive, Strategic and Benchmark students. What do you notice? How could this be utilized at your grade level?

Final Thoughts Effective balanced instruction requires a very comprehensive, integrated approach, demanding that teachers know a great deal about literacy research related to emergent literacy, assessment-based instruction, phonological and phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, phonics, word study, selecting appropriate leveled readers, reader response, writing process, and constructivist learning. (IRA, 2003)