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Northern Lehigh to adopt DIBELS 8 and expand IXL use; STAR phased out in some grades
Summary
District staff told the education committee the 2024–25 assessment calendar will include DIBELS 8 for grades 3–5 and increased IXL benchmarking K–12; staff said correlations to state PSSA results are strong but year‑to‑year comparisons for some math benchmarks will be limited.
District staff outlined a shift in the 2024–25 assessment calendar that will replace STAR benchmarking in several grades with a combination of DIBELS 8 for literacy screening (grades 3–5) and expanded use of IXL for math benchmarking across K–12. Dr. Stoker introduced the calendar and said it is published on the district website and will be updated as specific test windows are finalized.
Mr. Schneider said DIBELS 8 aligns directly with the district’s upcoming CKLA English-language-arts adoption and assesses the same foundational literacy skills previously measured by DIBELS Next, with only minor differences. He said staff will participate in training to learn the distinctions between the two vendors’ products. Mr. Breiner added that Slatington Elementary will adopt DIBELS 8 and that adopting a consistent assessment suite will improve continuity between sending and receiving schools.
Mr. Pine presented a correlation analysis showing benchmark tools (IXL and STAR) correlate at roughly 0.8 with PSSA-level results at a grade‑band level — a strong relationship that supports using IXL to predict trends at scale even if individual-student changes are not perfectly one‑to‑one. District staff emphasized that, because the math benchmarking tool is changing in some grades, direct comparisons between last year’s math STAR results and this year’s IXL results will be difficult; staff said they will rely on state PSSA results for formal year‑to‑year accountability comparisons.
Staff also confirmed the Pennsylvania state assessments (PSSA/PASA) remain the district’s accountability measures; science testing shifts from fourth to fifth grade this year and the science Classroom Diagnostic Tool (CDT) will be administered as the field‑test year for that transition. The administration said reading and math CDT administration for the year are still under consideration.
The district will publish finalized dates and testing windows on the assessment calendar; staff said families can access the calendar online and that the district will continue to refine the document throughout the school year. The education committee did not take a formal vote at the meeting but moved to place handbook and related items on the board agenda for the next meeting.
