Can I use a student’s score from Reading Fluency Benchmark Assessor or DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) to place students in Read Naturally?
Benchmark assessments like RFBA and DIBELS are used to see who needs a fluency building program like Read Naturally and to monitor student progress in fluency. With benchmark assessments, students are assessed with grade-level passages, which will not necessarily give teachers the information they need to initially place students in Read Naturally.
Students are typically placed in Read Naturally a half grade above their instructional level because of the audio support they receive during the read along step. It is best to place students in Read Naturally by using the Masters Edition placement packet or the Software Edition placement program.