Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills

This study evaluated the validity and reliability of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) using a sample of 30 special education students, fourth through sixth grade. Results support the reliability and validity of DIBELS when compared to the Woodcock Johnson III (WJ III). The DIBELS consisted of four subtests: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), Initial Sound Fluency (ISF), and Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF). These subtests were compared to two subtests of the Woodcock Johnson III: Letter Word Identification and Word Attack. DIBELS produced significant correlations for LNF, PSF, NWF, and WJ III Word Attack and between DIBELS LNF, PSF, and WJ III Word Identification. ISF exhibited no significant correlation when compared to either subtest of the WJ III.