DIBELS/Acadience F.A.Q.'s

ACADIENCE READING FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Acadience Reading?

• Acadience Reading are measures used to determine how students are performing on important reading skills (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension).  The measures are designed for students in grades K-6.

What skills are measured and why are they important?

• The Acadience Reading measures include several individual subtests that focus on the foundational skills of beginning reading.  The results are predictive of future reading success. 

The Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) subtest is a test of related early literacy skills.  LNF assesses a student’s ability to say the names of upper and lowercase letters in the alphabet.  This skill is a strong predictor of future reading success in young children, which is administered in kindergarten and first grade.  This subtest does not have a benchmark cut score as it is an indicator of risk and not an instructional goal.

Which subtests will be given to my child?

• Every Acadience Reading subtest is not administered to each student.  The subtests are administered based on the time in the school year (beginning, middle, and end) and the student’s current grade level. 

How often will my child be assessed?

• All students in grades K-3 are given the Acadience Reading measures three times per year, fall, winter, and spring.  The school-wide testing is called a benchmark assessment, or universal screening. Students performing below benchmark may also be progress monitored using the Acadience Reading measures to make sure their reading skills are improving.  Students who are progress monitored may be assessed as often as once per week or as little as once every six weeks depending on the needs of the student.

How much time does the Acadience Reading assessment take?

• Each subtest of the Acadience Reading measure takes one minute to administer with the exception of the Maze subtest, which takes three minutes.  It is important to note, the results of Acadience Reading measures are only indicators of the student’s overall reading skills and are not intended to be a comprehensive measure of reading achievement.  Similar to using a thermometer to take your child’s temperature, which gives a quick gauge of your child’s general health, these tests provide teachers with information about your child’s reading health and how well he or she is progressing on a particular reading skill. 
• Benchmark assessments usually take about 2 to 6 minutes to give, depending on the grade level of the student and the time of year.  For students identified as at-risk for reading difficulties, it takes about 1 to 2 minutes to administer the progress monitoring assessments.  Acadience Reading measures allow teachers to get valuable information about students’ reading skills without losing significant amounts of valuable instructional time.

How will the Acadience Reading results be used?

• The results of Acadience Reading are used to determine whether or not a student is on target for grade-level reading success, identify students at-risk for reading difficulties, and evaluate the effectiveness of Tier 1 instruction (general education program). 
• Students who do not meet the goals on each measure can quickly be identified and given extra help.  School and district data teams can also study the test scores across classrooms and grade levels to make decisions about how to best use resources to make sure that every student is on track to become a proficient reader.

Do the results provide me with a reading level for my child?

• The Acadience Reading assessment does not provide a reading level per se; however, valuable information is able to be pulled from the assessment to allow for targeted instruction to occur.  If a student scores at or above the benchmark for a designated assessment period, the student is making adequate progress in reading and is likely to continue to achieve future reading benchmarks when provided with effective instruction (approximately 80%-90% of students). 
• If a student scores below or well below the benchmark, the teacher and/or reading specialist will collect more information in order to devise an appropriate instructional plan for the student, which generally includes additional assessments of phonological awareness, phonics, language, or comprehension as indicated by the benchmark test.   

What other information about my child’s reading skills is available from Acadience Reading?

• National norms are available for the Acadience Reading measures, which allow a student’s performance to be compared to other students across the nation.  Additionally, students’ performance is able to be compared to the benchmark cut scores, which represent adequate reading progress. If a student achieves a grade-level benchmark goal, he or she is likely to achieve subsequent reading benchmarks when provided with appropriate and evidence-based instruction (approximately 80%-90%).  The results may also be used to evaluate a student’s individual performance over time, which helps determine if a student is making adequate progress toward his or her goals.