DIBELS draws doers & doubters: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills monitor K6 reading progress but raise questions.

DIBELS draws doers & doubters: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills monitor K6 reading progress but raise questions. WHEN KINDERGARTEN kindergarten[Ger.,=garden of children], system of preschool education. Friedrich Froebel designed (1837) the kindergarten to provide an educational situation less formal than that of the elementary school but one in which children's creative play instincts would be STUDENTS in Cincinnati-area schools were testedon their basic reading skills last fall, examiners found that 13.5percent of the children needed intensive instructional support inphoneme phonemeSmallest unit of speech distinguishing one word (or word element) from another (e.g., the sound p in tap, which differentiates that word from tab and tag). The term is usually restricted to vowels and consonants, but some linguists include differences of pitch, segmentation fluency--dividing the different sounds, orphonemes, of a word. When tested at the end of kindergarten, only 2.7percent of the children still needed that help. Administrators credit the improvement to the tool they used toassess the children--Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills(DIBELS DIBELS Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills ), a set of tests that focus on the various skills necessary forlearning to read. Ohio authorities say it helped them identify studentswho needed specialized spe��cial��ize?v. spe��cial��ized, spe��cial��iz��ing, spe��cial��iz��esv.intr.1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study.2. instruction and that after receiving thatinstruction, more students scored better on the later DIBELS test. "DIBELS has been fantastic. It has been the most powerful toolfor changing student outcomes that I have ever encountered," saysStephanie Stollar, an educational consultant with the Southwest OhioSpecial Education Regional Resource Center. One of 16 regional centersin the state, it serves school districts in Cincinnati and foursurrounding counties. But not all educators share Stollar's enthusiasm. DIBELS is"the worst thing to happen to the teaching of reading since thedevelopment of flash cards," asserts P. David Pearson David Pearson (born December 22, 1934 in Whitney, South Carolina) is a former American NASCAR racecar champion.Known as the "Silver Fox", he debuted on the Grand National racing circuit in 1960 and earned Rookie of the Year honors that same season. , dean of theGraduate School of Education at the University of California atBerkeley (body, education) University of California at Berkeley - (UCB)See also Berzerkley, BSD.http://berkeley.edu/.Note to British and Commonwealth readers: that's /berk'lee/, not /bark'lee/ as in British Received Pronunciation. . Pearson claims that it shapes instruction in bad ways forstudents and teachers alike. It's bad for students because they are"held accountable to the indicators" rather than to whether ornot they really learn to read, he says. It's bad for teachers, he continues, because it requires themto teach and judge students based on criteria that are "notconsistent with our best knowledge about the nature of readingdevelopment," including whether students understand what they read. Some teachers and parents agree. "I get nothing out of it. Ittells me how fast they can read and nothing else. It is a waste of mytime," declares Melissa Pares PARES. A man's equals; his peers. (q.v.) 3 Bl. Com. 349. , who teaches fifth grade at BullardTalent School in the Fresno (Calif.) Unified School District A unified school district is a school district which includes both primary school (kindergarten through middle school or junior high) and high school (grades 9-12). In Illinois, these districts are called unit school districts. . "I question how reliable and valid the test scores are,"adds Sandra Blackburn, a veteran second grade teacher at LongstreetElementary School elementary school:see school. in the Volusia County Schools in DeLand, Fla. Lisa Laser is homeschooling home��schoolor home-school ?v. home��schooled, home��school��ing, home��schoolsv.tr.To instruct (a pupil, for example) in an educational program outside of established schools, especially in the home. her second grade son, Ellis, after sheand her husband removed him from Joseph Elementary School in Oregonbecause of "the horror of DIBELS" he experienced in firstgrade. His teacher suggested he be held back after first grade."The test itself is harmful, and the curriculum essentially was toteach to the test," Laser says. Controversy and Scrutiny These contrasting perspectives define the parameters of a debate inthe education community about the effectiveness of DIBELS, which 45states have approved for use, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the U.S. GovernmentAccountability Office The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress, and thus an agency in the Legislative Branch of the United States Government. . They also enter into an ongoing congressional investigation of howDIBELS became so widely used in the country's public schoolsfollowing establishment of the $1 billion Reading First program, a keyprovision of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Reading First, whichfunds kindergarten through third grade reading programs, requires theuse of reading assessments. Investigators are looking at ties betweenDIBELS and three former members of a committee established by the U.S.Department of Education to review assessment products. One of them--Edward J. Kame'enui, a co-creator of DIBELS and afaculty member at the University of Oregon--was named the firstcommissioner for special education research in the Department ofEducation in 2005 but resigned that job in June. According to the U.S.House of Representatives' Committee on Education and Labor,Kame'enui and the other former committee members, Deborah Simmonsand Roland H. Good III, also a co-author co��au��thoror co-au��thor ?n.A collaborating or joint author.tr.v. co��au��thored, co��au��thor��ing, co��au��thorsTo be a collaborating or joint author of: "He and a colleague . . . of DIBELS, "benefitedfinancially" from the sale of DIBELS. In written testimony last April to the House committee, John P.Higgins Jr., inspector general of the Department of Education, said hisoffice found that some department activities had led to "aperception that there was an approved list Approved listA list of equities and other investments that a financial institution or mutual fund is allowed to invest in. See: Legal list.approved listSee legal list. " of assessments. Hecited a handbook given to participants at three Reading LeadershipAcademies that the Education Department and the National Institute forLiteracy sponsored to assist states in preparing Reading First grantapplications. Higgins said that while other assessments were listed, only DIBELSwas featured in an article in the handbook and in a guidebook that theEducation Department published later. "Not surprisingly, 43 statesindicated that they would use DIBELS as one of their assessments,"Higgins testified. He added that his office found instances where Education Departmentofficials "intervened" and "worked to influencestates" to select DIBELS. Higgins called the department's actions"inappropriate" and said they "created anappearance" that the agency may have violated vi��o��late?tr.v. vi��o��lat��ed, vi��o��lat��ing, vi��o��lates1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example).2. To assault (a person) sexually.3. laws that prohibit pro��hib��it?tr.v. pro��hib��it��ed, pro��hib��it��ing, pro��hib��its1. To forbid by authority: Smoking is prohibited in most theaters.See Synonyms at forbid.2. itfrom influencing schools' curricula. Some states mandate use of DIBELS. In inviting funding applicationsfor full-day kindergarten literacy readiness programs for the 2007-2008school year, for example, the New Mexico New Mexico,state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). Public Education Departmentstates that all such programs "are required to administer"DIBELS, although schools that apply can list additional assessments thatthey intend to use. Assessment Tool DIBELS grew out of research in education testing that a group ofschool psychologists and other education specialists began at theUniversity of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. in 1988, says one of the specialists, Ruth A.Kaminski. With a background in speech-language pathology and earlychildhood special education, she now runs Dynamic Measurement Group(DMG (Disk iMaGe) The file format used in the Macintosh for distributing Mac software. Mac install packages appear as a virtual disk drive on the Mac as if you had inserted a CD or floppy disk. ), a for profit company in Eugene, Ore., that she founded with Good.DMG sells DIBELS to state education agencies and school districts anduses the proceeds to fund ongoing research and development of thereading assessment tools, now in their sixth edition, Kaminski says. She emphasizes that DIBELS is not designed to improvestudents' reading abilities by itself. "It is an assessmenttool, designed to monitor children's progress in acquiringimportant early literacy skills and informing intervention orinstruction," she explains. "Reading readiness This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. is a multifaceted mul��ti��fac��et��ed?adj.Having many facets or aspects. See Synonyms at versatile.Adj. 1. multifaceted - having many aspects; "a many-sided subject"; "a multifaceted undertaking"; "multifarious interests"; "the multifarious issue, and teachers havefound a relationship between students who start at very low levels andby using DIBELS are able to get a higher level of readingreadiness," says Douglas B. Reeves, founder of the Leadership andLearning Center, formerly the Center for Performance Assessment, anEnglewood, Colo.-based organization dedicated to improving studentachievement and educational equity. DIBELS tests are basically one-minute benchmark assessments thatteachers, reading specialists and other examiners in schools giveone-on-one to students at the beginning, middle and end of the schoolyear. When a test indicates that a child needs additional instruction,examiners might test the child as frequently as weekly to monitorprogress, Kaminski says. Like using a thermometer thermometer,instrument for measuring temperature. Galileo and Sanctorius devised thermometers consisting essentially of a bulb with a tubular projection, the open end of which was immersed in a liquid. to take a child's temperature as anindicator of overall health, each DIBELS test is an indicator of howwell a student is learning a particular basic reading skill. Test scoresindicate whether a student is likely to be on track for learning to reador is likely to need help in developing particular skills, such aslearning how to sound out unknown words. Teachers use stopwatches, which DIBELS sells (roughly $7-$8 each).Tests are timed, Kaminski says, because one indicator of fluency flu��ent?adj.1. a. Able to express oneself readily and effortlessly: a fluent speaker; fluent in three languages.b. is"not just how accurately children can do things but howeffortlessly ef��fort��less?adj.Calling for, requiring, or showing little or no effort. See Synonyms at easy.effort��less��ly adv. they can do them without having to think really hard aboutwhat they are doing." At the end of a test, the examiner totals a score and records it onpaper or a Palm Pilot. The examiner enters the results into computerizeddatabases at school, which then print reports for later analysis. Although teachers are usually the DIBELS testers, others canevaluate results and determine how to adjust instruction to servestudents who need help. Kaminski says some schools have grade-levelteams that meet monthly to review how children are doing. Teams mightinclude a speech-language pathologist, school psychologist, specialeducator and Title I teacher. And sometimes principals join the teams. "Principals are theadministrative and instructional leaders of a school, and theirunderstanding of and support for DIBELS can make the difference betweeneffective and ineffective implementation," Kaminski says. Nonsense Words One issue critics have with DIBELS is the use of made-up"nonsense" words in testing a student's ability to blendletters and sounds. In the test, kindergarten and first-grade studentsare given a sheet of paper with randomly ordered nonsense words writtenon it, like "sig," "rav" and "ov."Students are asked to say the individual sound of each letter or thewhole word. A student's score is the number of letter soundsproduced correctly in one minute. Blackburn, who plans to retire next year after 44 years ofteaching, says she does not use nonsense words in her testing becausethey are not part of the curriculum. "Using nonsense words whenchildren know real words and are already reading at grade level orbetter doesn't make a lot of sense to me," she says. Even with nonsense word tests, however, school psychologists rateDIBELS as "very useful," says Laurice M. Joseph, associateprofessor in the College of Education and Human Ecology Human ecologyThe study of how the distributions and numbers of humans are determined by interactions with conspecific individuals, with members of other species, and with the abiotic environment. at the OhioState University Ohio State University,main campus at Columbus; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1870, opened 1873 as Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, renamed 1878. There are also campuses at Lima, Mansfield, Marion, and Newark. and a member of the National Association of SchoolPsychologists The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is the first and largest national professional organization created for the purpose of serving school psychologists. . With DIBELS, "you can readily screen an entireclassroom of students, then use the data to target students who are notperforming comparable to their peers or to benchmark standards,"Joseph says. That's how it worked at Rosemont Elementary School, a ReadingFirst school in the Orange County Public Schools in Florida, whereteachers identified 60 struggling third-, fourth- and fifth-gradereaders through a DIBELS assessment at the beginning of the school yearlast fall. Teachers began using an interactive, speech-enabled softwareprogram to help the students improve their reading fluency. Thestudents, who initially tested at the lowest levels of literacy, hadadvanced to the next level on the next DIBELS test during the winter,and teachers looked for even more improvement to show on the finalDIBELS test late in the spring. Jacqueline Oester and seven other reading support teachers atRosemont give the DIBELS test to all 900 students at the school in oneweek three times a year. "We take them into separate areas outsidethe classrooms so they can concentrate on reading the passages,"says Oester. The children "remember their last score and are intenton beating it," she says. "We are not encouraging them to think of it as a contest orrace, because we don't want them to just speed through it. We wantthem to read fluently flu��ent?adj.1. a. Able to express oneself readily and effortlessly: a fluent speaker; fluent in three languages.b. , and reading fast and fluently are two differentthings. But I think every child has a competitiveness inside," saysOester, who believes DIBELS is useful in indicating a child'sprogress in learning how to read. Speed and Comprehension But some teachers think timing DIBELS tests leads students to readrapidly. "I don't encourage that. I want them to read at theirown speed; whatever they are comfortable with," says Blackburn."I don't think speed-reading should be taught until middle orhigh school." Some critics of DIBELS also contend that even if students read fastand fluently, tests do not measure whether they understand what they arereading. "I count how fast they read and how many mistakes theymake and that tells me their fluency. It doesn't tell me whetherthey comprehend what they read, and we're not encouraged to askthem," says Pares. "The actual DIBELS comprehension measure is a retelling re��tell��ing?n.A new account or an adaptation of a story: a retelling of a Roman myth., whichis OK but probably not the best in terms of what teachers usually havestudents do in the classroom, which is to answer questions after theyread a text," says Joseph. She cites research findings that "kids who score high on thefluency measures tend to be better at comprehending texts than kids whodon't score high on fluency." So DIBELS can be a goodpredictor of what "we might expect a student to do oncomprehension, although you probably would want to supplement it withanother test that has the student read a passage and then answer literaland inferential in��fer��en��tial?adj.1. Of, relating to, or involving inference.2. Derived or capable of being derived by inference.in questions," Joseph says. Reeves says administrators shouldn't get "seduced"by a high DIBELS score. "You also have to teach kids how tosummarize sum��ma��rize?intr. & tr.v. sum��ma��rized, sum��ma��riz��ing, sum��ma��riz��esTo make a summary or make a summary of.sum and get the main idea--all the elements of readingcomprehension Reading comprehension can be defined as the level of understanding of a passage or text. For normal reading rates (around 200-220 words per minute) an acceptable level of comprehension is above 75%. ," he adds. "DIBELS does not do that, but thatdoesn't mean that DIBELS is worthless. It's just part of thereading process." While Reading First extends only through third grade, DIBELS isdesigned to be used through sixth grade, according to Kaminski. TheMetropolitan School District of Wayne Township In Indiana, the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township is a school district located in Indianapolis, Indiana, serving Wayne Township in western Marion County. It is known for its high school, Ben Davis, which was founded in 1892. in Indiana experimentedwith DIBELS from kindergarten through sixth grade but will use it onlyin kindergarten and first grade in 2007-2008, because that's whereit works best, says Lisa Lantrip, assistant superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. forcurriculum and instruction and a former school principal. DIBELSdoesn't work as well in higher grades, she says, because "youcan't really get into whether or not the children understand thestory. Their retell re��tell?tr.v. re��told , re��tell��ing, re��tells1. To relate or tell again or in a different form.2. To count again.Verb 1. is very low, meaning they have no clue what thestory is about." Laser says her family's main issue with DIBELS was herson's school's "overreliance" on the test andteaching solely designed to support test success, with the child's"well-being be damned." Because of her son's results on two DIBELS measures, histeacher suggested he either repeat kindergarten or be held back afterfirst grade, Laser says. Laser thought Ellis would be ahead of his classin math and science because his Portland school had focused on them, butthose subjects were not considered. "It was clear to us that DIBELSis double punishment--DIBELS in and of itself and the expectation thatkindergartners must enter first grade with a specific and narrow rangeof reading skills in spite of their other skills and knowledge,"Laser declares. Phonics phonicsMethod of reading instruction that breaks language down into its simplest components. Children learn the sounds of individual letters first, then the sounds of letters in combination and in simple words. vs. Whole Language Another issue DIBELS has raised is whether phonetic pho��net��icadj.1. Of or relating to phonetics.2. Representing the sounds of speech with a set of distinct symbols, each designating a single sound. readinginstruction is better than teaching "whole language" reading.Kaminski says DIBELS is neutral on the issue. "Whatever readinginstruction you are using, DIBELS indicates whether it works ornot," she says. The International Reading Association supports phonics as part of awhole language program. "The teaching of phonics is an importantaspect of beginning reading instruction," IRA Ira, in the BibleIra(ī`rə), in the Bible.1 Chief officer of David.2,3 Two of David's guard.IRA, abbreviationIRA. declares in aposition statement. But Reeves claims reading is multifaceted. "Youhave to do both, and anybody who has spent any time with kids should nottake an either/or position," he says. "You need letterrecognition and sounds skills, but nobody has ever said that preventsyou from reading rich, wonderful literature." Reeves compares it tomusic. "The fact that you get wonderful vibes from playing a Chopinnocturne nocturne(nŏk`tûrn)[Fr.,=night piece], in music, romantic instrumental piece, free in form and usually reflective or languid in character. John Field wrote the first nocturnes, influencing Chopin in the writing of his 19 nocturnes for piano. doesn't mean you are prohibited pro��hib��it?tr.v. pro��hib��it��ed, pro��hib��it��ing, pro��hib��its1. To forbid by authority: Smoking is prohibited in most theaters.See Synonyms at forbid.2. from playing scales anddoing hand exercises," he says. Meanwhile, debate over DIBELS itself continues. "It digs toodeeply into the infrastructure of reading skill and process and comes upwith a lot of bits and pieces but not the orchestrated or��ches��trate?tr.v. or��ches��trat��ed, or��ches��trat��ing, or��ches��trates1. To compose or arrange (music) for performance by an orchestra.2. whole of readingas a skilled human process," Pearson says. But Kaminski and Stollar defend it. "It was never intended tobe the be-all and end-all be all and end allor be-all and end-all ?n.The quintessential or all-important element: "Not that the more spectacular athleticism is the be all and end all of free skating. Spins . . . of reading assessment but to work prettydarned darned?adj.Damned.Adj. 1. darned - expletives used informally as intensifiers; "he's a blasted idiot"; "it's a blamed shame"; "a blame cold winter"; "not a blessed dime"; "I'll be damned (or blessed or darned or well as an indicator of a core skill," Kaminski says.Stollar adds that criticism comes from a lack of knowledge. "Thereis no other reading assessment that can do what DIBELS does," hesays. How DIBELS Works Excerpted from DIBELS Administration and Scoring Guide THE TEST FOR PHONEME SEGMENTATION fluency is intended for mostchildren from the winter of kindergarten through spring of first grade.It assesses a student's ability to divide words with three or fourphonemes, or sounds, into their individual phonemes fluently. Sounds of "Mop" The examiner tells a student: I am going to say a word. After I sayit, you tell me all the sounds in the word. So, if l say"sam," you would say/s//a/ /m/. Let's try one. Tell methe sounds in "mop." After giving the student the first word, the examiner starts astopwatch. If the student does not say a sound segment after threeseconds, the examiner scores the first word as zero segments producedand gives the student a second word. After one minute, the examiner records the number of sound segmentsproduced correctly on the bottom of a scoring sheet. The tent's benchmark goal is 35 to 45 correct phonemes perminute in the spring of kindergarten and fall of first grade. Studentsscoring below 10 may need intensive instruction to achieve benchmarkgoals. Oral and Retell Fluency Another test, of oral reading fluency and retell fluency, isintended for most children from mid-first grade through third grade. The examiner places a reading passage in front of the student andsays: Please read this out loud. If you get stuck, I will tell you theword so you can keep reading. When I say "stop," I may ask youto tell me about what you read, so do your best reading. Start here(pointing to the first word of the passage). Begin. The examiner starts a stopwatch when the student says the firstword of the passage. If the student does not provide a word within threeseconds, the examiner says the word and marks it as incorrect. At theend of one minute, the examiner says Stop. Benchmark goals range from 40 correct words in the spring of firstgrade to 110 in the spring of third grade. If the student has read 10 ormore words correctly, the examiner instructs the student: Please tell meall about what you just read. Try to tell me everything you can. Begin.The examiner records the number of words the student says in one minute. A child reading 60 words correctly in one minute would be expectedto use about 30 words in the retell of the passage. If the retell is 15words or less, the child may not have comprehended much. One minute of nonsense The truth behind DIBELS, according to Ken Goodman and his book, TheTruth About DIBELS: What It Is and What It Does. ONE ANONYMOUS TEACHER, WHO IS quoted in my book, claims that herdistrict is not using DIBELS because administrators and teachers want touse it Or because it gives helpful information, because it doesn't,she claims. "We're using it because Reading First requiresit," she says. "Some schools are posting fluency scores ofchildren ... and then the students have race cars, in the form ofbulletin boards, where they are trying to race to the speed goal. On thephoneme segmentation part, some kindergarten classrooms have been knownto drill and practice the segmentation while kids are in line waitingfor the restroom." DIBELS is not just an early literacy test Literacy Test refers to the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at the federal level, and potential voters at the state level. The federal government first employed literacy tests as part of the immigration process in 1917. . Teachers are required togroup learners and build instruction around the scores. They'reevaluated on the DIBELS scores their pupils achieve. Publishers aretailoring programs to DIBELS. And academic and life decisions forchildren, starting in kindergarten, are being made according to DIBELSscores. Roland Good, a DIBELS developer, told the U.S. House ofRepresentatives' Education Committee during a hearing last Aprilthat three million children are tested with DIBELS at least three timesa year from kindergarten through third grade. New Mexico provides everyteacher with a DIBELS Palm Pilot so the pupils' scores can be sentdirectly to Oregon for processing. Kentucky's associate education commissioner testified at thehearing that the state's Reading First proposal was rejectedrepeatedly until they agreed to use DIBELS. The DOE inspector generalcited conflicts of interest by Good and his Oregon colleagues inpromoting DIBELS. Another teacher, quoted in my book, claims that while the DIBELStest is used throughout the school year, any child who receives thelabel "Needs Extensive Intervention" as a result of the firsttesting must be monitored with a "fluency passage" every otherweek. No test of any kind for any purpose has ever had this kind ofstatus. In my book, I analyzed an��a��lyze?tr.v. an��a��lyzed, an��a��lyz��ing, an��a��lyz��es1. To examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations.2. Chemistry To make a chemical analysis of.3. each of the subtests in depth. Here aremy conclusions: * DIBELS reduces reading to a few components that can be tested inone minute. Tests of naming letters or sounding out nonsense syllablesare not tests of reading. Only the misnamed mis��name?tr.v. mis��named, mis��nam��ing, mis��namesTo call by a wrong name.misnamedAdjectivehaving an inappropriate or misleading name: Reading Fluency testinvolves reading a meaningful text, and that is scored by the number ofwords read correctly in one minute. * DIBELS does not test what it says it tests. Each test reduceswhat it claims to test to an aspect tested in one minute. * What DIBELS does, it does poorly, even viewed from its owncriteria. Items are poorly constructed and inaccuracies are common. * DIBELS cannot be scored consistently. The tester must timeresponses (three seconds on a stopwatch), mark a score sheet, and listento the student, whose dialect dialect,variety of a language used by a group of speakers within a particular speech community. Every individual speaks a variety of his language, termed an idiolect. may be different from the tester, all atthe same time. * DIBELS does not test the reading quality. No test evaluates whatthe reader comprehends. Even the "retelling fluency test" isscored by counting the words used in a retelling. * The focus on improving performance on DIBELS is likely tocontribute little or nothing to reading development and could actuallyinterfere. It just has children do everything fast. * DIBELS misrepresents pupil abilities. Children who alreadycomprehend print are undervalued UndervaluedA stock or other security that is trading below its true value.Notes:The difficulty is knowing what the "true" value actually is. Analysts will usually recommend an undervalued stock with a strong buy rating. , and those who race through each testwith no comprehension are overrated Overrated was a Horde World of Warcraft guild, based on the US Black Dragonflight Realm. On November 2 2006, the majority of the guild members were indefinitely banned from the game for use of (or directly benefiting from) a third-party "wall-hack", used to bypass content . * DIBELS demeans teachers. It must be used invariantly. It leavesno place for teacher judgment or experience. * DIBELS is a set of silly little tests. It is so bad in so manyways that it could not pass review for adoption in any state or districtwithout political coercion coercion,in law, the unlawful act of compelling a person to do, or to abstain from doing, something by depriving him of the exercise of his free will, particularly by use or threat of physical or moral force. . Little can be learned about something ascomplicated as reading development in one-minute tests. Pedagogy of the Absurd I believe this period in American education will be characterizedas the pedagogy of the absurd. Nothing better illustrates this thanDIBELS. It never gets close to measuring what reading is reallyabout--making sense of print. It is absurd that self-serving bureaucratsin Washington have forced it on millions of children. It is absurd thatscores on these silly little tests are used to judge schools, teachersand children. It is absurd that use of DIBELS can label a child afailure the first week of kindergarten. And it is a tragedy that lifedecisions are being made for 5- and 6-year-olds on the basis of suchabsurd criteria. Ken Goodman is professor emeritus e��mer��i��tus?adj.Retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement: a professor emeritus.n. pl. in the Language, Reading andCulture Department at the University of Arizona (body, education) University of Arizona - The University was founded in 1885 as a Land Grant institution with a three-fold mission of teaching, research and public service. in Tucson. He is formerpresident of the International Reading Association, a bestselling authorand a contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. to The Pulse: Education's Place forDebate. RESOURCES DIBELS, dibels.uoregon.edu Dynamic Measurement Group www.dibels.org The Leadership and Learning Center www.makingstandardswork.com Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township www.wayne.k12.in.us Orange County Public Schools www.ocps.k12.fl.us Reading Horizons www.readinghorizons.com Southwest Ohio Special Education Regional Resource Centerwww.swoserrc.org Volusia County Schools www.volusia.k12.fl.us Wireless Generation, mCLASS:DIBELS www.wirelessgeneration.com Alan Dessoff is a freelance writer based in Maryland.