Lindsey Finch

INTASC Standard #4: Content Knowledge

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s)
he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and
meaningful for learners to assure mastery of content.

Licensure/Content Standard #2b: Supporting and empowering families and communities

through respectful, reciprocal relationships.
Licensure/Content Standard #2c: Involving families and communities in their children’s
development and learning.
Licensure/Content Standard #3a: Understanding the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment—
including its uses in development of appropriate goals, curriculum, and teaching strategies for
young children.
Licensure/Content Standard #3d: Knowing about assessment partnerships with families and
with professional colleagues to build effective learning environments.

Description of Evidence and how it demonstrates the standard(s):

This DIBELS Assessment project involved working with a student’s family in order to obtain
background information on the child’s educational history. It is a practice of the DIBELS
Assessment which assesses a students’ reading fluency, phonetic skills, and phonics skills.

Implications for Future Teaching:

I conducted this DIBELS Assessment on a ten year old boy who is in fourth grade. According to
his mother, he really struggles with reading. After conducting the assessment on the student, the
outcomes showed that the student lacked grade-level skills in reading fluency. Since he was a
very slow, meticulous reader, he was unable to fully demonstrate his ability to read many words
correctly. However, due to the background knowledge provided by his mother, I was able to
identify that game-based learning would be very appropriate for enhancing this student’s reading
ability. He is very motivated when there is a chance for competition. His competitive nature
draws his attention to games, which is why game-based learning would be best for him.
Although this student does not have a disability (and the DIBELS Assessment is typically used in
RtII for children with/suspected to have special needs) conducting the assessment on him
showed me that it can be used for any student to identify their learning needs, not just for
students with disabilities. It was simple to conduct and the script/guidelines were straight
forward and understandable. I will certainly use this in my future classroom where necessary.