What is the purpose of DIBELS/AIMSweb?

• A. Screening and progress monitoring of foundational reading skills
• B. Assessing writing quality and structure
• C. Measuring science knowledge
• D. Evaluating mathematical fluency

Answer: (A)

Foundational reading skills screening and progress monitoring. DIBELS and similar tools are designed to quickly identify students who may be at risk for reading difficulties and to track their growth over time. They use brief tasks that measure early literacy components like letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, decoding, and reading fluency. Because they’re given regularly, they help teachers see whether instruction is helping a student improve and guide targeted supports. They aren’t intended to assess writing quality, science knowledge, or math skills, which require other types of assessments.