In Ken Goodman's recent book about DIBELS you can find not only the careful critiques of a number of education leaders but also stories from teachers such as myself. I have to say that I think it is a dangerous tool, not simply one that is flawed. I had a six pack of readers in my last looping classroom that had garnered my concern, my monitoring using other tools and my extra attention. They had all entered second grade reading at levels 12 through 16, and my concerns were founded on different issues. Fluency was one of the concerns held for several of them. The very first told during a DIBELS deflated nearly all of them and and I spent two weeks rebuilding their confidence in their own word solving strategies. One child however, read my body language (I was trying to do the company line), and leaned towards me with a sense of comradory and conspiracy. "Don't worry," he whispered, "I know this isn't REAL reading." This was from a child who not a fluent reader but consistently scored the highest scores on any comprehension measure. His speech patterns were also somewhat dysfluent--he tended to trip over himself, speak very quickly but with lots of repeating of phrases and he did so even more when thoroughly excited about learning. We worked with lots of performance work: reader's theatre, recitation, poetry performance. I am not sure that he will ever be a Walter Cronkite but my bet is he will be the guy writing the feed! Within two months, he had doubled his reading score and ended up above grade level at the end of the year. All the other children made progress, two were identified as having reading disabilities and our average rate of gain for these children was in excess of twelve reading levels. Why is it important to share that data with you? Because we never used the DIBELS intervention programs, never timed reading outside of the DIBELS. WPM did improve with all of the children, but they never attained grade level proficiency. Two of the remaining five children came off the top of my mental 'worry list' when they became passionate and avid readers--an attitudinal change that was like a tree coming into bloom. Two were diagnosed with reading issues. They have increased their accuracy and oral fluency but both children continue to have issues with comprehension. One child, the saddest story in my mind, is a capable but unwilling reader. Sorry to be so long-winded, but this is an issue of passion for me. By the way, our district dropped the DIBELS and I would like to think I helped to influence that decision.
Lori On 5/25/07 7:39 PM, "elaine garan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What I think honestly, is that DIBELS doesn't assess students as much > as it trains them in an approach to text. I have all the independent > research including Michael Pressley's study of DIBELS. I hate to even > get into that because it's really controversial and controversy can be > divisive. On the other hand, it can also push our thinking. I know I > need to constantly rethink my positions. So as far as DIBELS goes, I > can always refer to the research. > > And yes-- the comprehension section on it does indeed have the assessor > count the number of words in the story that the kids recite whether or > not they are even in sequence. That is efficient training of an > approach-- look at the words, look at the details, don't put together > the big picture or it literally works against you if you paraphrase, or > expand on the text or personally relate to it using your own words. I > found the research on DIBELS in particular and on fluency in general to > be just fascinating. It is in such opposition to what schools are told > and sold. > > On Friday, May 25, 2007, at 05:11 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> In a message dated 5/25/2007 10:42:45 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >> >> I totally agree with your definition of fluency-- that it must be >> inseparable from comprehension. However, I would note that assessments >> such as DIBELS and some fluency programs >> You are right about the DIBELS. I was very disturbed when we looked >> at it >> that the way they measured comprehension of the passage was by >> counting the >> number of words the child used in their retell. This is one of the >> major >> reasons we never purchased it. >> >> I am not advocating fluency programs at all. I really don't think you >> need >> one. I think the reason we see so many now is because it is easy to >> package >> and sell. I teach my fluency lessons with text the children are >> reading and >> short passages that are on an appropriate level for the child. I >> also vary >> the genre to be sure they understand how to read these as well. >> >> >> I'm >> understanding your posts, you believe that fluency and comprehension >> are reciprocal--that each influences the other. That's what the >> research shows too. >> Yes that is exactly what I was saying. >> >> The difference in what many teachers are being told >> is that if we train kids to read quickly, comprehension will follow. >> Actually, the research shows that's not the case. Comprehension does >> not just suddenly pop up when a child can read a passage flawlessly. >> >> That is absolutely right. That is why we have to understand that when >> someone says they teach fluency it does not merely mean we time the >> children and >> get a score. It is so much more than that and should be included in >> the >> reading instruction we do. I really teach it in reading as well as >> writing. >> >> I also agree with what you said about the data regarding ELLs and >> decoding >> instruction. Many ELLs that I have worked with are good word >> callers. They >> can call the words but do not have great comprehension. >> >> Laura >> readinglady.com >> >> >> >> >> ************************************** See what's free at >> http://www.aol.com. >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute "Literate Lives: A Human Right" July 12-15, 2007 Louisville, Kentucky http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
