“Word Talks” Impact on DIBELS Composite Score

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2015-05

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the instructional strategy “Word Talks” has a positive impact on DIBELS composite scores. The study was based on a group of 21 students, 5 to 7 years of age. This particular group of 21 Kindergartners was comprised of students from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. This study focused on participation, student connections, phonemic awareness and phonics. Academic progress was assessed based on a pre-assessment, which took place in January compared to a post-assessment conducted three months later in April. The assessment measurement tool was DIBELS (Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills). Students received explicit instruction focused on phonemic awareness and phonics conversations. The researcher recorded student responses to provide a visual for letter to sound correspondences. The group participating in the study made connections to a word family by changing beginning sounds, ending sounds, and or vowel sounds. Based on one specific word family, students provided a new word (real or nonsense). Upon completing the study, the null hypothesis was rejected. The standard deviation was equal to or less than .02. The results demonstrated that “Word Talks” increased composite DIBELS scores.