Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills: An Effective Tool to Assess Adult Literacy Students?
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Date
2011-02-16
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Abstract
Abstract
This study examined the validity of administering Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills to monitor and direct the instruction of Adult Basic Education Students. Sixty ABE students and 40 elementary school children were administered the DIBELS pre-reading measures, the Woodcock-Johnson III Broad Reading measures and four additional tests of orthographic ability.
In a regression analysis, a significant portion of the variance in the reading-grade levels of adults on the WJ III BR was explained by the DIBELS and orthographic predictors. For children, a significant portion of the variance in reading-grade level on the WJ III BR was explained by the DIBELS measures, but the orthographic measures did not add significantly to the model. The results of this study indicated that DIBELS have the potential to be an effective set of tests to measure adults reading abilities; they may, however, require additional measures of orthography, in order to account for compensatory strategies adults employ.
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adult literacy, dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills