Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development.  The measures are one minute in length and can be used to regularly monitor the development of pre and early reading skills and oral reading fluency.

The purpose of DIBELS is to prevent reading problems from occurring.  DIBELS is an assessment tool which enables educators to determine how students are responding to instruction.

Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA)

The Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA) is a dictated word inventory (oral spelling test) devised by Kathy Ganske, the author of Word Journeys.

The DSA enables teachers to do the following:

• Identify a student’s stage of spelling development
• Identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses within the stage of development
• Group students appropriately for instruction
• Plan appropriate instruction
• Monitor progress over time

The Independent Reading Conference: Procedures and Forms

A longstanding body of research shows that reading achievement is positively related to the amount of time spent reading.  However, practice without feedback is not as effective as monitored practice.  When a daily independent reading program includes careful monitoring, direct teaching, and goal setting; reading comprehension improves. The forms and procedures included in this section are designed to help the teacher implement a monitored independent reading program.

The Lexile Framework

The Lexile Framework is a tool that makes it possible to place readers and text on the same scale.  A Lexile is a numerical score that indicates both the readability of written material and the comprehension level of a reader.  The Lexile level of a text is determined by analyzing word frequency, sentence difficulty, and sentence length.  The Lexile level for students can be determined from a standardized test such as the CORE Level test. 

The Lexile Framework serves two important purposes:

• Lexiles provide a highly effective tool for evaluating and monitoring a student’s achievement inreading. 
• Lexiles provide a way to know if a book is well-suited to a reader’s specific reading level. 

McLeod Assessment of Reading Comprehension

The McLeod Assessment of Reading Comprehension assesses comprehension by means of the “cloze” technique and gives an approximate reading grade level.  Students read a series of passages and supply words that have been deleted from sentences within each passage.  In order to supply the correct word, the student must do the following: 

• Accurately decode words
• Apply knowledge of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary  
• Use critical reading strategies   

Comprehension Analysis

     The comprehension analysis section contains word lists and comprehension passages.  The word lists are used to place students in the appropriate comprehension passage.  The comprehension passages range from pre-primer through sixth grade. There are both narrative and expository passages.  Each passage has questions to assess the student’s ability to comprehend text. The comprehension passages will help teachers do the following:

• Provide information about a student’s reading level
• Effectively group students for guided reading  
• Guide students to choose appropriate independent reading books

 Open Court Unit Assessments

Open Court unit assessments include a variety of tests and diagnostic tools.  The most valuable for CUSD teachers are the lesson assessments because they assess the skills and strategies taught in each lesson immediately after instruction is delivered.  For each grade level, a sequence of instruction by Open Court unit is listed on the trimester or quarter Balanced Literacy/Open Court (BL/OC) maps. A grade-level list of lesson assessments, organized by the recommended BL/OC sequence of instruction, is included. 

Lesson assessments offer teachers the opportunity to gauge progress on a variety of skills and strategies and will help determine how well students are grasping the skills and concepts as they are taught.

Standardized Tests

CORE Testing

The CORE Level Test or MAP Level Test (computerized level test) is given in Capistrano Unified School District in Fall and Spring of each school year to measure the academic growth of individual students.  The scores are reported with a RIT score.  A student’s individual growth can be determined by comparing fall and spring RIT scores.  This allows teachers, parents, and students to know if a child is making adequate yearly academic progress.

See the CUSD testing calendar at http://caponet.capousd.org/calendars.htm for current testing dates.

STAR Testing

Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) is a state-wide testing program designed to  assess the learning of California’s students.  The major component of STAR is the California Standards Test (CST).  The CST assesses student proficiency with statewide content standards in English/Language Arts and Mathematics. In addition to the CST, several grades take additional tests.  Fourth and seventh graders take a composition writing assessment and third graders take the California Achievement Test (CAT/6).  The CAT/6 results report how California’s third graders compare with their peers across the country. 

The STAR test is administered once a year in May.  The results are reported by proficiency levels: advanced, proficient, basic, and below basic.  For more information, visit Testing and Accountability at the California Department of Education website at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta.