Frequently Asked Questions
General Data System
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Can I continue to use DIBELS Next with my DIBELS Data System (DDS) account?
Yes, you can continue to use DIBELS Next and DIBELS 6th Edition. We previously announced the transition period would end in the 2020-21 school year; however, we are extending that window and will continue to provide service on multiple versions of DIBELS to ensure all schools have the time and resources they need to successfully implement DIBELS 8th Edition. Your historical data from any version of DIBELS will still be available.
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Can I use Acadience™ Reading with my DIBELS Data System (DDS) account?
Yes, while DIBELS Next has been renamed Acadience™ Reading, the measures and materials are still the same. If you use the materials labelled as Acadience™ Reading, you can enter them in DDS as DIBELS Next.
Acadience™ Reading is a registered trademark of Dynamic Measurement Group.
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Can I use the same DDS account when I transition to DIBELS 8th Edition?
Yes, you will use the same DDS account to enter DIBELS 8th Edition scores and view reports. All historic assessment data, usernames and classnames will be in your account ready to use and access at any time.
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What if I can log into the system, but no information is available?
If you can log into the system but no class information is available, you have most likely been given class-level access but not been matched to your class name in the system. You will need to ask the person who set up your username to use the "Assign Users to Classes" feature on the Administration page to match your username to your class name.
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How do I handle returning students who have switched grades or been retained?
Students who switch grades mid-year due to promotion or retention will need a new student record. Mark the existing record as "moved out" on the Manage Classes page and add a new record for the student. You'll now have two records for that student. The records won't be linked, but both will remain in the database, so you won't lose any data.
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Can I add a class for a reading group or small group?
Yes, "secondary" classes are used for small groups or intervention groups. Secondary classes can be added using the Import Classes feature with a value of 1 in the classtype column. Secondary classes can also be added manually using the "Add Classes" feature on the Manage Classes page. Choose "Secondary" from the drop down menu listed under Class Type for each secondary class you want to add.
After adding the secondary classes, return to the Manage Classes page and select the class. Click “edit user” in the Class Details section to assign a user to the class. Then click Add Students (below the class details) and use the "Assign Students to Classes" feature to place students in the class.
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How do I add students to classes?
Go to the Manage Classes page and select the desired class. Click Add Students. Make the appropriate choice. Is the student was previously in in your district use Add Returning Students. When adding new students you can select the numbers of students to add by using the menu above the instructions.
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How do I change student information and class location?
"Change Student Information" for a Single Student. Change Student Information is available on the Student History page. Locate the student by using the "Find Student" feature on the Administration page, then scroll right and click "Change Information.” Make your changes, and then click on the "Change Info" button. A school or district coordinator can also change the student's current class if the student is currently assigned to a class and has not been marked as "Moved Out".
"Change Student Information" for Multiple Students in a Class. To change information for a single student or for multiple students in a class, click Manage Classes on the Administration Page. Select the desired class and click on the pencil icon to the right of the student name. Make the updates. Click Change info and then use the back button on your browser to return to the list of students. A school or district coordinator can also change the student's current class if the student is currently assigned to a class and has not been marked as "Moved Out".
The Edit Demographics function, on the Manage Classes page, is only available if your district coordinator has enabled demographics. It will allow you to edit demographics information, dates of birth, and student ID numbers for an entire class at once. It will not allow you to change student names or the class to which the students are assigned.
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How do I change the grade level of a class or student?
Classes are specific to a grade level and cannot be changed after students have been assigned to it. If you accidentally add a class to the wrong grade level but have not added any students to the class, you can update the grade using the Import Classes feature. Alternatively, you can manually change the grade or class type (with Manage Classes) before students have been added to the class. Note that if a teacher changes grades, you should add a new class for the teacher at the new grade level and leave the old class name in the system.
Students are added to a specific class at a specific grade level which cannot be changed, except when migrating at the start of a new year. If you accidentally add a student to the wrong grade level, you should delete the student record and then re-add them to the appropriate grade level.
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How do I delete a class?
District and School coordinators can remove unused classes with the Manage Classes feature located on the Administration page. On the Manage Classes page, click Show Options to display classes that can be deleted.
Note that you cannot delete a classes that have been used previously because student records are still linked to that class name; however, many inactive classes can be hidden with the Show Classes preference. District and School preferences are accessed from the Administration Page by clicking Set District Preference or Set School Preference.
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Can I hide classes?
Yes, you can limit the number of classes displayed by setting the District or School Preference called Show Classes. To set Preferences go to the Administration Page and click Set District or School Preference.
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How do I delete a student record?
You can delete a student record using the "Delete Student Record" feature from the Administration page.
If you accidentally added duplicate copies of student records and those records have matching ID numbers, a district level user can use the "Merge Duplicate Student Records" feature from the Administrative page to merge the duplicates. Records with valid data should always be merged rather than deleted.
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How do I combine duplicate student records?
A district level user can use the "Merge Duplicate Student Records" feature on the Administration page to combine multiple records for students. Note that both records must have the same student ID number to use the merge feature.
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What if the year I need is not available on the Data Entry page?
If the current year is not available from the year pull-down menu on your data entry pages, then your Assessment Schedule has not been set up yet. Your district coordinator will need to set up your Assessment Schedule by selecting the "Assessment Schedule" link from the Administration page.
If you want to enter data for a previous year that is not on your year pull-down menu, the district coordinator will need to send a request to support@dibels.uoregon.edu with the year and the dates that students were tested.
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What if no classes are active on the Data Entry page?
Class names will not appear on the data entry pages until students have been added to the class.
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How do I enter progress monitoring scores?
Go to the Administration page and click Manage Classes. Then click the desired class. Use the "Select Action" menu above the list of students to select Enable Progress Monitoring (for DIBELS or Math). Click the box for each student who will be progress monitored. When finished, click Save.
To enter DIBELS progress monitoring scores, click on the Data Entry menu then click on the Progress Monitoring link. For your convenience we also provide paper-based administration and data entry for easyCBM Math in cases where online administration is not feasible.
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How do I enter out-of-grade scores?
To enter out-of-grade DIBELS progress monitoring scores click the Data Entry tab and choosing Progress Monitoring Data Entry. Use the menus to choose the school, grade and class. The use the Type of Monitoring menu to select "Out-of-grade Monitoring.”
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How do I move a student to a different school for the new year?
District-level users can migrate students across schools using the "Migrate across schools" option on the "Migrate Students" feature.
If your district is using the "Import Student" feature, simply list the new school the student will be attending and the system will move the record to the new building.
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What if a student doesn't show up on the Migration menu?
If your students are not showing up on the "migrate students in" menu, you can use the "Find Student" feature on the Administration page to see the location of a student.
If a student was migrated to the wrong class, a district level or school level user can change the class name using the "Change Student Information" page after clicking the More Information button next to the student's name from the Find Student link. If the student location is listed as "moved out," then you will need to use the "Add Returning Student" feature from the Administration page to move them into a class.
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What if I migrated students but they don't show up on the Data Entry page?
If you migrated students but they are not showing up on the Data Entry pages, you can use the "Find Student" feature on the Administration page to see the location of a student.
If a student was migrated to the wrong class, a district level or school level can change to the correct class name using the "Change Student Information" page after clicking the More Information button next to the student's name from the Find Student page. If the student location is listed as "moved out," you will need to use the "Add Returning Student" feature from the Administration page to move the student into a class.
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What should I do if I get an error message during the import?
The import feature will let you know if there is a problem with the file you are trying to upload. The most common problems are solved by:
- Checking that the file is saved in tab-delimited text format. You cannot import an Excel file.
- Checking that you have the headers listed in the first row of the file. They must be formatted exactly as specified on the import page.
- Checking that the school and class names in your import file match the name exactly as it is entered in your account. You can use the "Assign Users to Classes" feature to see how your school name and class names are entered. Be sure that there are no extra spaces before or after the names in your file.
- If you are importing demographics information, check that the values match those specified on the "valid answers" link on the import page.
DIBELS Assessment
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Where can I get the DIBELS materials and scoring guide?
DIBELS 8th Edition and DIBELS 6th Edition benchmark and progress monitoring materials, as well as the Administration and Scoring Guide, are available for download on our Testing Materials page.
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Can DIBELS scores be used on report cards?
DIBELS scores should never be used to grade a student. The measures should only be used for instructional decision-making (i.e., to identify students who need additional instructional support and monitoring response to intervention). DIBELS scores should only be given to parents in conjunction with an appropriate explanation.
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What citation should I use for DIBELS?
University of Oregon (2018). 8th Edition of Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS ®). Eugene, OR: University of Oregon. Available: http://dibels.uoregon.edu/
Good, R. H., & Kaminski, R. A. (Eds.). (2002). Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (6th ed.). Eugene, OR: Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement. Available: http://dibels.uoregon.edu/
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Can DIBELS be used with non-native English speakers?
Yes, DIBELS is designed to be administered to all students who are learning to read English.
We don't have any specific guidelines for administering DIBELS to students learning to speak and read English. While the measures are standardized and should be given to all students in the same manner, there are a few accommodations that can be made when necessary and are specified in the chapter on Approved Accommodations in the Administration and Scoring Guide available from our Download Materials page.
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Is there a Spanish version of DIBELS?
Yes, Indicadores Dinámicos del Éxito en la Lectura, or IDEL, is a standardized assessment for early literacy skills for students learning to read Spanish. Review our IDEL Resources for more information.
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Can DIBELS be used with students in special education?
Yes, DIBELS can be used with special education students. DIBELS is designed to be administered to all students who are learning to read in English and who are physically capable of taking the tests. You would generally only exclude students who are deaf, who stutter, who are completely nonverbal, or who have severe phonological difficulties.
During the benchmark screening of all students, students receiving special education should be administered grade-level materials. When progress monitoring you can use materials at the students' instructional-level if the grade-level materials are too difficult to show response to instruction.
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Do I need to keep testing students who score at Benchmark?
Yes. The benchmark goals increase over time, so a student who meets the beginning-of-year goal is not guaranteed to meet the middle- or end-of-year goal. Screening all students at each time period will enable timely identification of students who are not continuing to progress in their literacy development. Additionally, screening the entire school enables the school or district a complete data set to evaluate how all students are responding to instruction.
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Why are there no LNF progress monitoring materials?
Letter Naming Fluency should not be progress monitored. It is different from the other measures in that it is not aligned with one of the five major skill areas in beginning reading. It's used for benchmark screening because it is a good indicator of risk, but shouldn't be monitored beyond that.
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What do I do if I run out of progress monitoring probes?
If you run out of probes (i.e., finish all 20 probes), you can start over at the beginning of the booklet. Note that you should only repeat a passage when progress monitoring, and only in this specific instance.
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Can we use old progress monitoring probes for practice?
No, you should never practice the DIBELS measures with your students, even probes that they won't be tested on for real. You want to keep a clear distinction between "teaching time" and "testing time." You should teach your students reading and pre-reading skills, but you would never practice the DIBELS measures. For information on how to teach the skills that DIBELS assesses, see our Big Ideas in Beginning Reading website.
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How do I get trained to administer DIBELS?
There are several ways to get training on administering the DIBELS assessments:
- Complete the online training courses offered by the Center on Teaching and Learning.
- Ask educational agencies in your area if they will be sponsoring a training that you could attend.
- Hire a trainer to come out to your district.
- If none of those options work for you, but you have people experienced with giving standardized tests, you could use a training video. Testers would also need to be very familiar with the Administration & Scoring Guide, available from our Download Materials page, and should practice testing with 5-7 students (who won't be tested on those same probes for real), while someone checks their fidelity of implementation with the Assessment Integrity Checklists (part of the Administration & Scoring Guide).
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How do I score a student who finishes before the full minute is up?
If a student completes the assessment in less than one minute, you end the assessment and record the score.
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Can a student use a ruler or other tracking device to mark their spot on a probe?
We do not recommend using any supports or strategies, unless the individual student demonstrates a need for such support. Prior to making any accommodations, it is recommended that the measure be administered in the standardized format to see how successful the student will be. If during that administration it is clear that the student needs support, then an accommodation may be considered from the list in the Administration and Scoring Guide.
Using a ruler or straightedge for tracking is an approved accommodation for LNF, NWF, and ORF for those children who need this accommodation. As with all DIBELS-approved accommodations, this accommodation should only be used with children who require the accommodation.
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PSF - Can you repeat a word on PSF if a student asks you to?
All efforts should be made to minimize the possibility of a child asking for a word to be repeated (e.g., relatively quiet assessment space, sit close to the child, speak clearly); however, there are times when it does occur and, if so, repeat the word. If it happens occasionally, it is "small stuff." If it happens frequently for a particular child, you might want to check into hearing issues. If it happens frequently for many children, look at the assessment conditions and make necessary adjustments.
The Kindergarten and 1st grade benchmark booklets include PSF scoring sheets. There are no student materials for PSF since it's an auditory measure.
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NWF - How do I score a student who responds with individual sounds and a blend?
You score the last thing that the student responded with based on the directions in the Administration and Scoring Guide, available from our Download Materials page. For DIBELS Next, credit is given for WWR when the blend is the first and only response. For DIBELS 8th Edition and DIBELS 6th Edition credit can be given for WRC when the blend is correct and it occurs after the student says the individual letter sounds.
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NWF - Should I teach nonsense words to students?
No, you should teach your students letter-sound correspondences and blending. Once students begin developing these skills, their performance will generalize to the NWF score.
For information on how to teach alphabetic principle skills, see our Big Ideas in Beginning Reading website.
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ORF - If a student repeatedly reads a word incorrectly, is it marked wrong every time?
Yes, when scoring ORF you are counting the words read correctly. If a student does not read a word correctly, they do not get credit for it.
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ORF - What do I do if a student skips an entire line when reading?
If a student skips an entire line during ORF, draw a line through the row and count the words as incorrect when scoring.
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ORF - How do I score proper nouns?
You can accept an answer as correct if the student provides (a) a reasonable phonetic pronunciation of the name, or (b) the correct pronunciation of the name if the correct pronunciation of the name is non-regular and the tester knows the correct pronunciation. The developers worked hard to ensure that included names are reasonably accessible. During standardized administration the tester provides the correct pronunciation if the student struggles for 3 seconds.
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ORF - Do I need to give all three ORF passages?
DIBELS 6th Edition and DIBELS Next: For benchmark screening, we recommend giving all three passages and recording the median/middle score. If you are only able to give one passage because of special circumstances, then give the second passage. If you are using Retell Fluency, you must give all three passages as the reliability on RTF is too low when using only one passage.
During progress monitoring one ORF passage is adequate when monitoring is done 2-4 times per month.
DIBELS 8th Edition: There is only one ORF passage to administer.
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Why does DIBELS 8th Edition have only 1 ORF passage for benchmark screening?
Administering one ORF passage saves considerable testing time, and research shows it provides nearly the same screening accuracy as administering three passages.
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ORF - Should the tester or student read the title of the passage?
No. The directions indicate that you direct the students to the first word of the passage. If they do accidentally read the title and hesitate for 3 seconds on a word, then you should supply the correct word. Do not start the timer until they read the first word of the passage.
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Do you have a tablet version of the DIBELS assessments?
If you are interested in a digital version of DIBELS, Amplify offers DIBELS 8th Edition through mCLASS. Learn more about mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition on Amplify's website.
easyCBM Math Assessment
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What are the benchmark goals for the easyCBM math assessment?
The easyCBM Math assessments evaluate risk based on national percentiles to use in place of benchmark goals. The national percentiles should be used to determine levels of risk and need for instructional support. Students below the 40th percentile are considered to be at some risk. Students below the 20th percentile are considered to be at risk.
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Do we have to give the math assessments on the same testing schedule that we administer the literacy assessments?
The beginning of year assessment will need to occur during the first 3 months of your school year, but does not have to be given during the same month as your literacy testing. Likewise, the middle of year math assessment must be given during the 4th-6th month of your school year and the end of year assessment must be given during the 7th-10th month of the year. The months of your school year will be determined by the track that each classroom is set to in your district's DDS account administrator.
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Can a student use a calculator?
A student may only use a calculator if it is allowed on their IEP or 504 plan. No other use of a calculator is permitted. All students are permitted to use a pencil and scratch paper while taking the assessment.
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Can an adult click answers for students taking the math assessment?
Yes, it is an acceptable accommodation for an adult to use the mouse to click answers if the student is unable to do this on their own. However, the adult must be careful to not anticipate what the student may answer or use the mouse in a way that may give the student hints about which answer to choose.
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What difficulty level are the items on the easyCBM CCSS Math assessment?
The test items are at a middle of the year difficulty level. Most items are from grade level domains. A few items are called "anchors" and they are from grade levels above and below the testing grade level. This helps ensure equivalency across the tests.
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How do I delete math scores?
If a student math score is invalid you can delete it by clicking Data Entry on the menu bar. Then click Benchmark data entry and use the menus to select the math assessment, the class and the assessment period. Click the "Clear" button to remove the score. The student can retake the math assessment using the same codes.
easyCBM Reading Assessment
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How do I activate easyCBM Reading?
The easyCBM Math and easyCBM Reading assessments will continue through June 2021 for accounts that currently use these products, but they will not be available through DDS in 2021-2022. Amplify offers alternate math and reading assessments. Learn more on Amplify's website.
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What are the benchmark goals for the easyCBM Reading assessment?
The easyCBM Reading assessments evaluate risk based on national percentiles to use in place of benchmark goals. The national percentiles should be used to determine levels of risk and need for instructional support. Students below the 40th percentile are considered to be at some risk. Students below the 20th percentile are considered to be at risk.
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Can an adult click answers for students taking the reading assessment?
Yes, it is an acceptable accommodation for an adult to use the mouse to click answers if the student is unable to do this on their own. However, the adult must be careful to not anticipate what the student may answer or use the mouse in a way that may give the student hints about which answer to choose.
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What difficulty level are the fluency passages?
The fluency passages are designed to all be at the middle of grade-level reading difficulty.
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Can a student retake the online assessment?
If a student reading score is invalid you can delete it by clicking Data Entry on the menu bar. Then click Benchmark data entry and use the menus to select the reading assessment, the class and the assessment period. Click the "Clear" button to remove the score. The student can retake the reading assessment using the same codes.
CTL Professional Development Courseware
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Who developed the learning modules?
They were developed by researchers at the Center on Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon.
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How do I print a certificate of completion?
Once you complete the entire course and the completion survey, go to the My Progress page within the Courseware site to print your certificate.
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How do I get university credit for the course I complete?
At this time university credit is not available for courses.