Parent Cheat Sheet for “PWES Educational Jargon”
DIBELS-Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
The DIBELS assessment measures the number of words that a student reads correctly in one
minute on a grade level passage. The score is an indicator or whether or not a child is “at risk” for
experiencing reading difficulties.
DRA-Developmental Reading Assessment
The DRA is administered by teachers to individual students in order to determine their reading
levels. The DRA is a series of stories and comprehension questions. Teachers determine a child’s
ability to decode the words of the story, then answer questions related to it. Both the decoding
and the comprehension scores are used to determine if a child is reading at an independent,
instructional, or frustration level.
Leveled Books A-Z- Our system for identifying books to match students’ reading levels
K A-C
1 D-G
2 H-L
3 M-P
4 Q-S
5 T-V
6 W-Z
NLC-National Literacy Coalition
The national reading organization that follows the Balanced Literacy model for teaching reading
that is used at Prairie Winds. This approach is based on the use of leveled books to teach specific
target skills in both phonics and reading comprehension. Instruction is delivered in small, teacher-
guided groups.
NWEA-Northwest Education Association
Computer based testing in Reading, Language Usage, and Math, designed to measure growth of
individual students. Scores are measured in “rits” and are reported by subject and by strands
within each subject. ie: number sense, geometry, probability and statistics, etc. The test is
administered three times throughout the school year.
RTI-Response to Intervention
This model is designed to ensure that students receive academic and behavioral supports as soon
as those needs have been identified. (In the past, special services could not be provided to
students who were not on IEPs.) Additionally, it is a way to organize our resources so that
students can receive support with their academics in a timely manner. Support is organized into
three tiers, which indicate the depth and duration of support offered.
