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Moreland board adopts mCLASS DIBELS as district early-literacy screener
Summary
The Moreland School District Board of Trustees approved mCLASS DIBELS as the district's required early-literacy screener for kindergarten through second grade; staff outlined implementation, timeline and estimated licensing costs and answered questions about how the screener will complement existing assessments and instruction.
The Moreland School District Board of Trustees voted to adopt mCLASS DIBELS as the district's early-literacy screener for kindergarten through second grade and directed staff to begin implementation planning.
District staff told the board the screener will be used to flag students at risk for reading difficulties, provide classroom teachers with more detailed phonics and phonemic-awareness data than the district's existing assessments, and support targeted Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. Staff said the state designated approved screeners on Dec. 31, 2024, and the district is moving to meet the state requirement that local educational agencies administer a screener for reading difficulties.
Board members and staff discussed how mCLASS DIBELS compares with the district's current Fountas & Pinnell (F&P) assessments, how often students will be tested, costs and training needs. Staff said the screener emphasizes phonological and phonemic awareness (skills F&P captures less directly) and that the two systems produce different but complementary information; F&P provides more information about fluency and comprehension while DIBELS focuses earlier on sound-level skills that research links to later reading problems.
Implementation details presented to the board included: - A first administration of the screener for new and returning K'K-2 students within the first 40 days of enrollment in the 2025-26 school year; the district may adjust frequency later based on teacher feedback and needs. - A first-round training for staff planned for June and a second training in August, with additional follow-up during the school year. IT preparation and data-management steps were listed as prerequisites. - An estimated first-year licensing cost in the neighborhood of $10,000 for the district (staff said this is substantially below an earlier $24,000 figure cited in preliminary discussion), not including professional development and related implementation expenses. Staff described the licensing figure as an estimate pending final quotes.
Board members pressed staff on whether the screener would simply identify students for pull-out services or whether the data would be used to sharpen in-class small-group instruction. Staff emphasized the latter: the law's reference to "intervention" does not require pull-out services and can be satisfied through differentiated classroom instruction, and only students who do not make progress with classroom interventions would be referred for further evaluation or more intensive services.
A board member raised concerns about funding ongoing interventions that may be indicated by the screener's results; staff acknowledged that while the assessment provides diagnostic data, additional funding/planning will be needed to scale interventions. Staff also said ongoing monitoring via the screener should simplify tracking of progress compared with some existing tools.
The motion to adopt mCLASS DIBELS was made and seconded; the board voted in favor and the motion carried.
Staff said they will present district-level reports from the screener after the first administration and will share timing and summary results with the board when available.
