mCLASS® with DIBELS® 8th Edition FAQ

Getting started FAQs

Q: As a district administrator, do I need to assign myself a class to see the assessment site?
A: There are two icons for mCLASS. mCLASS Assess where students are assessed for observational measures and mCLASS View Reports where all reporting lives. If district administrators or leaders need to assess students using the mCLASS Assess icon, the IT Administrator needs to add admin/leaders to the class. 

Q: What are your recommended intervals for progress monitoring?
A: The authors recommend progress monitoring well below benchmark students in the most at risk assessment measure every 1-2 weeks and below benchmark students in their at risk assessment measure every 2-4 weeks.  Students at risk for Maze would receive a different progress monitoring frequency which is once a month. 

Q: What is the difference between assigning assessments and just administering an observational assessment?
A: A teacher assigns online assessments, like MAZE, that students complete independently online in Online Assessment Management tile on mCLASS Home. In mCLASS Assess, a teacher administers the 1 minute observational measures to students individually, such as Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), Word Reading Fluency (WRF), and Oral Reading Fluency (ORF).

Q: How many students are recommended to be in a yellow or red group for intervention lessons?
A: We recommend small groups of 4–6 students for intervention.

Q: If we enroll a student after a benchmark window closes, do we need to wait until the next window opens to assess them?
A: If a student enrolls after the benchmark window has closed, we recommend checking with your district/state policy regarding what rules apply regarding benchmark and screening requirements. We do not recommend administering the benchmark assessment outside of the testing window since the assessment results from a student who has received three months of instruction cannot be accurately compared to a student who completed the grade-level assessment with no grade-level instruction. Instead of administering the benchmark assessment outside of the testing window, based on best practices, we recommend progress monitoring to determine the areas of instructional weakness for support and remediation.

Q: Does mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition fit in to Amplify CKLA or do they stand alone?
A: mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition aligns perfectly to assess the literacy skills being taught in CKLA.
Here’s a link to learn more.

Data FAQs

Q: What measures are required for composite score?
A: Measures vary by grade, however for each grade level, in order to have a composite score, all benchmark measures for that grade and time of year must be administered. Please see the Program Guide to check your grade level.

Q: If there is no Composite Score for a student because they were not assessed BOY, will the Composite score develop as the MOY is administered?
A: Yes, the student will get a composite score when all of their required grade level measures are administered at MOY.

Q: Can teachers fix a scoring error after it has already been entered?
A: Yes, the person who assessed the student can invalidate the measure, then reassess the benchmark using a progress monitoring form.

Q: What about students that test above grade level in benchmark and PM in the beginning or during the year? Should you follow the next grade level measures and begin PM in those areas?
A: Students will receive the benchmark for their grade level through the year, even if at BOY they scored Above Benchmark. You can PM off grade level, and in this case, above grade level if that’s appropriate. I’d recommend starting with PMing grade level measures to be sure the student is stable and growing with core instruction.

Q: Is it easy to fix a mistake as you administer an assessment?
A: You can easily correct mistakes at any time during the assessment administration, but not once the bracket is placed on the student’s assessment.  Once the bracket is selected, the assessment is frozen in time.  While in the assessment, even though the time is still ticking, assessors can fix any error markings, then select the bracket. We provide student recordings on mCLASS Home under the Training icon so you can practice administering the assessment with accuracy and speed prior to assessing actual students.

Q: Do you have any tips for administering the Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) section? My team found it challenging to score this section on the iPad in real time.
A: You can do it! Practice will make you and your colleagues feel more comfortable when assessing all measures including NWF. You can use your demo class to practice each measure. Use this link for scoring practice, which is located on mCLASS Home under the training icon.

Q: With so many student absences how long can we leave the task assigned?
A: You can assess the student at any time during the open benchmark window. Benchmark windows typically last at least two weeks. Once the benchmark window closes, online assessments can not be administered unless your site benchmark window is reopened and extended.

Q: Other than MAZE, are there assessments that students can do on their own?
A: In DIBELS 8th Ed, MAZE is the only online assessment for grades 2–6.

Q: Do administrators have access to teachers’ reports?
A: Yes, administrators have access to mCLASS classroom (teacher reports) and aggregate reports in the Reporting tile on mCLASS Home.  Administrators can access reports broken down by grade, class, demographics etc. You can find more information about the Reporting and Analysis Suite here in online help and view all mCLASS reports in the Reporting Guide.

Q: In order to get a composite score, do all three benchmarks have to be administered?
A: Composite scores are independently calculated for each benchmark window. You will need to assess all applicable measures for that time of year in order in order to receive a composite score for that benchmark assessment.

Q: Do we have access to data for students from previous years even if they were not our students?
A: Teachers and leaders have historical data for students that were within the district for prior years. If a student moved in from another district, their historical data does not transfer with the student in mCLASS. For students that were within your district last year, administrators can view historic data for all students. Teachers can only review historic data for the students who are currently assigned to them.

Q: How far in advance can you assign the online assessments?
A: You can assign online assessments on the day of the assessment if you want to. Sometimes this is preferred so that students can’t access the assessment until you are ready to administer the assessment. Also, you will not be able to assign any of the online assessments until the Benchmark window is opened.

Student usage FAQs

Q: Do student logins change each year or will they use the one they had last year?
A: Students should have the same mCLASS login credentials as they had last year. This will also depend on your school district authentication method too and can vary year to year. Some school districts use a district login for students, so in that case, the login would be based on the district’s policy.

Q: Is it possible to take the MAZE using a demo account so that we can fully experience what the students will encounter during the test? It would be helpful when talking about the test with the students.
A: Yes, teachers can view Maze by logging in to mCLASS, then select Online Management tile.  Within the Online Management tile, select your demo class.  Assign Maze to one of your students in the demo class, note the student credentials, log out and log in now as the student to view the Maze assessment experience as a student.  

Q: I have a scoring question for the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) assessment. If a student reads a word incorrectly and then comes across that same word in the passage and again reads it incorrectly, do you mark it incorrect both times?
A: Yes, you will mark the work incorrect each time that the student reads the word incorrectly. Here are the ORF Scoring Rules. This may help with other specific questions.

Finding help FAQs

Q: How can parents and caregivers learn more about mCLASS?
A: You can find the mCLASS Caregiver Hub here: amplify.com/caregiver-hub/mclass/. 

Q: How can I get help?
A: First, visit our help library to search for articles with answers to your program questions. Need an answer fast? Chat with us! Click the orange chat icon while logged into mCLASS to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.