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Release DIBELS®
K-3 Reading Assessment to be Available This Fall Wireless Generation to be Exclusive Provider of Handheld DIBELS Software Based on University of Oregon/Sopris West DIBELS K-3 Reading Assessment June 30, 2003, New York: Wireless Generation, the leading developer of K-12 observational assessment software, has announced a three-way partnership with Sopris West Educational Services and the University of Oregon reading researchers who compose the Dynamic Measurement Group, Inc., to offer a version of the DIBELS assessment on the Wireless Generation mCLASS® (mobile classroom assessment) platform. DIBELS, Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, is a system of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development for K-3 classrooms. Wireless Generation will have exclusive rights to develop and distribute mobile DIBELS software, and will introduce the new offering, called mCLASS®:DIBELS®, in classrooms this fall. DIBELS is the scientifically based K-3 reading assessment most widely adopted to meet the requirements of the Reading First portion of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which provides federal grant money at the state level for reading programs at Title I schools. To qualify for funding, states must require that districts use scientifically proven methods to raise student reading performance. Currently, 21 of the 32 states that have had their Reading First proposals funded will be using the DIBELS assessment. mCLASS:DIBELS streamlines the assessment administration process by eliminating paperwork and manual calculations, and by automating the extensive timing requirements involved in measuring fluency. Using the new mCLASS version of DIBELS, teachers will record student performance by making simple taps on a handheld computer. Performance data from the handheld is then uploaded to a secure Web site by pressing just one button, enabling teachers and administrators to easily aggregate, analyze, and share data for Reading First reporting. mCLASS:DIBELS also provides instructional strategies from DIBELS authors and other reading experts that are linked to individual student performance, available immediately on the handheld and then more comprehensively on the Web. Current users of DIBELS, 6th Edition, use a student scoring booklet and pencil to record student performance on the assessments, and a teacher or central office staff must then enter results into a computer manually. By automating many portions of DIBELS administration, the Wireless Generation solution will save significant administration time and reduce human error in reporting results. "By adding DIBELS to the growing family of assessments available on mCLASS, we substantially enrich the offerings available to our customers, helping them meet the important requirements of Reading First and strengthen their overall early literacy programs," said Larry Berger, co-founder and CEO of Wireless Generation. Sopris West Educational Services, which currently publishes the print version of DIBELS, will provide a custom kit of necessary printed materials for users of Wireless Generation's mCLASS software version. "Sopris West is committed to providing scientifically-proven and classroom-practical educational services and products. Partnering with Wireless Generation was a logical step for us. The DIBELS measures are already scientifically proven. Wireless Generation helps to make them even more classroom-practical," said J. Stuart Horsfall, president of Sopris West. "This relationship is just the kind of partnership between a publisher of a print-based product and an innovative technology company that delivers great value to teachers and schools." "I am delighted that the DIBELS will be available on Wireless Generation's mCLASS platform, which offers an important advance in how observational assessments are conducted and used by educators," said Roland H. Good, III, Ph.D., a professor of school psychology at the University of Oregon College of Education and co-author of DIBELS. "The mCLASS technology is an appropriate enabler of DIBELS because both are designed to streamline the often lengthy process of performing observational assessments." A DIBELS Benchmark Assessment is given three times a year to students in grades K-3. It consists of a set of independent, targeted probes that vary depending on grade and time of year. The DIBELS measures were specifically designed to assess the five Big Ideas of early reading: Phonological Awareness, Alphabetic Principle, Fluency with Connected Text, Vocabulary Development, and Reading Comprehension. The assessment quickly identifies at-risk students, and provides goals and schedules for ongoing progress monitoring based on each student's needs. The DIBELS design is supported by 15 years of scientific research, as well as National Reading Panel and National Research Council studies, which cited the need to intervene early and strategically during critical windows of reading development. Wireless Generation will offer mCLASS:DIBELS in both English and Spanish. More information about mCLASS:DIBELS is available online at www.wirelessgeneration.com The addition of DIBELS further establishes Wireless Generation as the leading provider of handheld solutions for K-12 observational assessment. Also available on the company's mCLASS platform are the TPRI, the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI), Harcourt Supplemental Publishers' e*Assessment, and the company's own mCLASS:Reading for performing reading records and related comprehension assessments. About Wireless
Generation About Sopris
West Educational Services About the Dynamic
Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) |
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