| The current study examined the quality of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) across a sample of second-grade English Language (EL) learners with varying degrees of English proficiency (e.g., students with beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, early advanced, and advanced levels). DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), and Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) measures were compared across one academic school year. Growth curve analyses using HLM models revealed that initial status varied significantly among groups of ELs, with advanced EL students beginning the second-grade with the ability to read more words than students with lower levels of English proficiency. In addition, students with Advanced or Early Advanced English proficiency levels had steeper oral reading fluency slopes across the academic year. For instance, growth rates for oral reading fluency (ORF) were approximately 0.82, 0.95, 0.97, 1.1, and 1.3 words per week for beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, early advanced, and advanced proficiency levels, respectively. Initial status estimates for NWF and PSF indicators were greatest for EL students with Advanced or Early Advanced English language proficiency than ELs with lower levels of English proficiency. Only EL students with Advanced levels of English language proficiency differed from all other groups in their rate of growth in PA and phonics. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness (PA) accounted for 2.1% and letter-sound correspondence accounted for 33% of the variance in reading fluency at the end of second grade. After controlling for PA and phonics skills, Language Status yielded an additional 12% of variance in spring ORF. In contrast, NWF accounted for 15% and language status accounted for 21% of the variance in spring reading comprehension. However, when fall ORF was entered into the regression models predicting spring reading fluency and spring reading comprehension, the variance associated with precursor literacy skills (PA and phonics) became negligible. Fall ORF accounted for 82% of the variance in spring ORF and 51% of the variance in spring reading comprehension. The implications of these findings as they relate to universal screening procedures using DIBELS with diverse EL learners are discussed. |
