Starting Points in Leveled Readers by DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency
 Determine the student’s reading rate.
 When assessing with DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency, the student is given a passage to read for one minute. On the
front cover, both the words read correctly per minute is recorded, as well as the number of errors. The words read
correctly on DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency may be used as the reading rate, as the DIBELS ORF score is “number of
words read correctly in 1 minute.”
 Grade level packets for Reading Tutors can be determined based on the reading rate (according to the Reading Tutors
manual).
 While DIBELS does not use the number of errors for DIBELS benchmark scores, the # of errors are nonetheless on the
cover of the DIBELS packet and may be used to calculate the accuracy rate if needed for Reading Tutors.
Suggested Leveled Reading Packet by Reading Rate (Words/Min)
Reading Tutors
Rasinski
DIBELS*
Grade Level
< 50
50-70
<80
80
70-100
90
100-130
110
130-140
140
140-160
150
160-170
180
<20
20 – 40
(Winter – Spring benchmarks)
44 – 90
(Fall – Spring benchmarks)
77 – 110
(Fall – Spring benchmarks)
93 – 118
(Fall – Spring benchmarks)
104 – 124
(Fall – Spring benchmarks)
109 – 125
(Fall – Spring benchmarks)
Packet
Consider Earlier Skill Lessons
1
D–J
2
K–O
3
P–T
4
U–W
5
X-Z
6
DIBELS ORAL READING FLUENCY RATES –READING TUTORS FLUENCY PACKETS
First
Grade
20 – 22
D
23 – 25
E
26 – 28
F
29 – 31
G
32 – 34
H
35 – 37
I
38 - 40
J
Second
Grade
44 – 53
K
54 – 63
L
64 – 72
M
73 – 81
N
82 – 90
O
Third
Grade
77 – 83
P
84 – 90
Q
91 - 97
R
98 – 104
S
105 – 110
T
Fourth
Grade
93 – 101
U
102 – 110
V
111 – 118
W
Fifth
Grade
104 – 110
X
111 – 117
Y
118 – 124
Z
* *DISCLAIMER: DIBELS does not use grade level equivalence. These rates listed are the benchmark goals for fall to
spring of that grade year benchmark. For example, a student who is reading 65 words per minute is NOT
NECESSARILY reading at a “second grade level”. The rates are listed to help use as an estimate of what Reading Tutors
packet to begin with.