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Import Data into a DIBELS Assessment

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Karen Nguyen
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This lesson will guide you through the process of uploading student response data for a DIBELS assessment.

Before You Start

Prepare Your File

Create or download a DIBELS file containing student scores for a specific Grade Level and Academic Year.

Required Fields

Your file must contain the following information to import successfully:

DIBELS Beginning, Middle, End:

  1. Local Student ID.
  2. Academic Year.

DIBELS Progress Monitoring:

  1. Local Student ID.
  2. Date Taken. Accepted formats: MM/DD/YY, MM/DD/YYYY.

The Academic Year field needs to be the second date in the academic year. If your file is for 2018-2019, the Academic Year field needs to be 2019.

File Format

Your file needs to be saved in one of these formats:

  • Comma Delimited
  • Tab Delimited
  • Semicolon Delimited
  • Colon Delimited

Keep in mind that you can typically turn another file type (such as Excel/.xls) into one of these formats (such as Tab Delimited) by opening the file, clicking File, selecting Save As, and selecting the new file format from the Save As Type drop down menu. Just be sure you widen your columns sufficiently in the initial file so that none of your data "jumps columns" during the transfer.

Where to Start

  1. Click on the Assessments tab.
  2. Under General, select View Assessments.

Select a DIBELS Assessment

  1. Under Type filter for DIBELS (6th or Next). You can also search for the assessments by typing in the assessment title.
  2. Click Search. From the list of assessments select the title of the DIBELS assessment you wish to import data for.

Import Your Data File

In the assessment Overview:

  1. Click Responses.
  2. Select Import Student Responses From File.
  1. Using the dropdown menu, select your file delimiter.
  2. Click Choose File and select your file.
  3. Click Upload.
  1. Use the dropdowns to match the columns from your import file to the fields in the DIBELS assessment. Note: These fields will be different depending on the DIBELS assessment you are importing data for.
  2. Click Import.

After the import, you should see the above message that the data imported successfully. You can also download an error file containing records that were not matched to students.

Troubleshooting Tips

Why am I seeing random characters in my dropdown menu?

Note: If you see nonsensical content in your column drop down menu, chances are you accidentally uploaded the wrong file type.

Do I need to include computed fields such as the Composite score in my import file?

No. Some computed fields, such as the Composite score, do not need to be imported. These columns will be computed based on the data imported.

I accidentally imported my data into the wrong academic year. How can I clean this up?

If there are a few records, manually delete the data using the Responses > Enter/Edit page. To completely remove all data from the assessment for all academic years, use the Responses > Remove All Student Responses page.

To delete a certain subsection of records, send a ticket to Illuminate Support with the list of Student IDs and the year you need data deleted for.

Next Steps

Any time you want to view your data, you have the following options:

  • Click the number next to Students to view responses or click the Responses tab.
  • Computed scores are available in the DIBELS prebuilt reports or can be added to a custom report.

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