Much research has evaluated teacher- or school-level variance in students' achievement as a proxy for teacher or school effects. These effects have almost exclusively been estimated across years with state-level testing data. In this paper, interim assessment data, collected across 9 time points in the fall, winter, and spring of Grades 3 to 5…

This study was premised on the importance of vocabulary in comprehending text. Critical findings from both the National Reading Plan (NRP) and the National Reading Technical Assistance Center (NRTAC) frame this study, both in the intervention that was implemented and in the manner in which outcomes were measured. Using expository passages…

In response to a request for additional analyses, in particular reporting confidence intervals around the results, we re-analyzed the data from prior studies. This supplementary report presents the results of the additional analyses addressing classification accuracy, reliability, and criterion-related validity evidence. For ease of reference, we…

In response to a request for additional analyses, in particular reporting confidence intervals around the results, we re-analyzed the data from prior studies. This supplementary report presents the results of the additional analyses addressing classification accuracy, reliability, and criterion-related validity evidence. For ease of reference, we…

This report provides a description of the development process, field testing, and psychometric properties of the fall 2015 grades 3-5 Elementary Mathematics Student Assessment (EMSA), a student mathematics test designed to be administered in a whole-group setting to students in grades 3, 4, and 5. The test was administered to 2,614 participating…

This in-brief technical report documents the results from two different analytic approaches for examining the reliability of the slope for easyCBM® math measures in Grades K-8. Results varied by grade, assessment measure, and the analytic approach. Results patterns are discussed.

Modeling growth for students with significant cognitive disabilities (SWSCD) is difficult due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, missing data, test scaling, group heterogeneity, and small sample sizes. These challenges may account for the paucity of previous research exploring the academic growth of SWSCD. Our study represents…

This in-brief technical report documents the results from two different analytic approaches for examining the reliability of the slope for easyCBM® reading measures in Grades K-8. Results varied by grade, assessment measure, and the analytic approach. Results patterns are discussed.

This technical report is one in a series of five describing the reliability (test/retest and alternate form) and G-Theory/D-Study research on the easyCBM reading measures, grades 1-5. Data were gathered in the spring of 2011 from a convenience sample of students nested within classrooms at a medium-sized school district in the Pacific Northwest.…

Students with significant cognitive disabilities present an assessment dilemma that centers on access and validity in large-scale testing programs. Typically, access is improved by eliminating construct-irrelevant barriers, while validity is improved, in part, through test standardization. In this article, one state's alternate assessment data…

In this technical report, we describe the development and piloting of a series of vocabulary assessments intended for use with students in grades two through eight. These measures, available as part of easyCBM[TM], an online progress monitoring and benchmark/screening assessment system, were developed in 2010 and administered to approximately 1200…

In this technical report, we document the results of a cross-validation study designed to identify optimal cut-scores for the use of the easyCBM[R] mathematics test in Oregon. A large sample, randomly split into two groups of roughly equal size, was used for this study. Students' performance classification on the Oregon state test was used as the…

This study examined the type of growth model that best fit within-year growth in oral reading fluency and between-student differences in growth. Participants were 2,465 students in grades 3-5. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses modeled curriculum-based measurement (CBM) oral reading fluency benchmark measures in fall, winter, and spring…

The results of formative assessments are regularly used to inform important instructional decisions (e.g., targeted intervention) within a response to intervention (RTI) system of teaching and learning. The validity of such instructional decision-making depends, in part, on the alignment between formative measures and the academic content…

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is designed to measure students' academic status and growth so the effectiveness of instruction may be evaluated. In the most popular forms of reading CBM, the student's oral reading fluency is assessed. This behavior is difficult to sample in a computer-based format, a limitation that may be a function of the…