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Pequannock reports strong K— and Grade 1 DIBELS gains; grades 2' flagged for decoding support
Summary
District staff reported June 22 that end-of-year DIBELS 8 results show kindergarten at 85% and Grade 1 at 87% at-or-above benchmark, while Grades 2 (77%) and 3 (63%) lag on decoding skills; officials plan targeted small-group instruction, phonics interventions and progress monitoring.
The Pequannock Township School District presented spring DIBELS 8 screening data on June 22, reporting strong early-year gains in kindergarten and Grade 1 and flagging decoding and morphology skills in Grades 2 and 3 for targeted intervention. Ms. Campatello, who led the presentation, said kindergarten rose to 85% at or above benchmark after starting the year at 51% and that Grade 1 ended at 87%.
Why it matters: The district uses DIBELS 8 as a universal screener given three times a year (fall, winter, spring) to identify students needing strategic or intensive reading support. Officials said oral reading fluency is high (districtwide 93—4% at or above grade level), but the lower composite in Grade 3 (63%) signals a need to strengthen decoding, morphology and multisyllable word strategies before students rely less on picture and context cues.
Key findings and response: Ms. Campatello explained the screener's color bands (green=on level, blue=above, yellow=below benchmark, red=well below) and gave the end-of-year composites: kindergarten 85% (start 51%), Grade 1 87% (start 70%), Grade 2 77%, Grade 3 63%. She said the district's focus next year will be additional explicit decoding instruction in Grades 3 and 4, expanded small-group Tier 2/3 supports, and progress monitoring every two to three weeks for students flagged in red or yellow.
Interventions and instructional changes: Presenters credited Heggerty phonemic-awareness work for strong K— outcomes and described classroom-embedded small-group instruction, reading lab interventions and the use of supplemental materials (U-FLY decodables) for targeted practice. The district plans to align competencies with Genesis report cards so families can see progress on competencies such as decoding and fluency.
Board discussion: Board members pressed for comparisons with other districts and asked whether program fidelity and professional development for Foundations and other curricula are adequate. Ms. Campatello and colleagues said they are tracking program fidelity through walkthroughs, data meetings and teacher-to-teacher calibration and that county- and state-level resources (training videos, LEAR materials) are becoming available.
What happens next: The district will use beginning-of-year data meetings to form early intervention groups, increase decoding instruction in grades 3 and 4, and continue teacher-facilitated data meetings. Officials said they will monitor the effect of Heggerty and supplemental programs and adjust scope and sequence materials accordingly.
(Reporting based on the district presentation to the Pequannock Township Board of Education; data presented June 22, 2026.)
