Understanding the Research Behind DIBELS 8th Edition

Overview

• DIBELS 8th Edition: A set of measures to assess reading skills in Grades K-8.
  • Measures include: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF), Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), Word Reading Fluency (WRF), Oral Reading Fluency (ORF).
• Purpose: Used for screening and progress monitoring.
• Release: 2018, revised to reflect the latest reading and curriculum-based measurement (CBM) research.

Research Background

• Ongoing 2-year investigation on technical adequacy started in 2017.
• Participants: 6,181 students from 29 schools in 13 states.
• Sample: Racially and ethnically diverse.

Technical Adequacy

Validity

• Components: Reliability, concurrent validity, predictive validity.
• Screening accuracy: A subset of predictive validity focusing on identification.

Reliability

• Alternate Form Reliability: Consistency of scores from different test versions.
  • Strong correlations indicate good reliability.
  • Excellent reliability (.90+) for LNF, WRF, ORF.
  • Good reliability (.80+) for PSF, NWF.
• Test-Retest Reliability: Consistency of scores over time.
  • Lower reliability is expected for rapidly developing skills.

Validity

• Concurrent Validity: Correlation between scores of different tests measuring the same construct.
  • Lower correlation for component skills like phonemic segmentation.
• Predictive Validity: Correlation of test scores with future performance.
  • Used to predict reading proficiency.

Screening Accuracy

• Usage: Identify students at risk of reading difficulties.
• Cut-scores: Risk cut-score and benchmark goal based on ROC analysis.
  • Risk Cut-score: Identifies students at risk of reading difficulties including dyslexia.
  • Benchmark Goal: Identifies students not on track for proficiency goals.

Conclusion

• Initial evidence supports using DIBELS 8th Edition for monitoring reading skills.
• Further research needed as data collection continues.

References

• Welch, C. & Dunbar, S. (2012). Iowa Assessments.
• Habibzadeh, F., et al. (2016). Biochemia Medica.
• Messick, S. (1995). American Psychologist.

Appendix

• Detailed reliability and validity coefficients for various grades and measures.