School-Wide Assessments

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade.

DIBELS assessments are short, one on one, one-minute assessments which are given to all Sonshine Elementary students three times a year by a trained DIBELS assessor. Students who do not make benchmark in an area will be coached and progress monitored until the next DIBELS testing session.

Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) creates a personalized assessment experience by adapting to each student’s learning level—precisely measuring student progress and growth for each individual. We have essential information about what each student knows and is ready to learn within 24 hours.

MAP assessments are computerized reading, language, and math assessments that are given three times a year to all Sonshine Elementary students. MAP delivers data when it matters most: when there’s still time to make a difference in student progress. MAP has given us a way to focus. Now teachers have a plan for how they use time for either intervening with students that need it, or providing enrichment to challenge those higher-level students.

The Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment Systems are accurate and reliable tools to identify the instructional and independent reading levels of all students and document student progress through one-on-one formative and summative assessments,

All students at Sonshine are given the Fountas and Pinnell assessment three times a year. The books in our school library are leveled according to the Fountas and Pinnell system and all students are encouraged to select books to take home and read that are at their level.