This study examined the reliability and validity of administering Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to adult basic education (ABE) students. Ninety ABE participants were administered DIBELS measures, the Woodcock-Johnson III Broad Reading (WJ III BR) measures, and four orthographic ability tests. Since ABE students are a heterogeneous group with respect to language background, all analyses were performed on the entire sample and then repeated using only native English speakers and again on all non-native English speakers. The measures were found to be reliable for all participant groups. In a regression analysis, a significant portion of the variance in the reading ability of adults on the WJ III BR was explained by the DIBELS and orthographic predictors. Results of this study indicate that DIBELS measures have the potential to be effective tests to measure adult learners' reading achievement; however, additional measures of orthographic knowledge may be required to account for compensatory strategies adults might employ. (Contains 4 tables.)