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…

For 30 years, researchers have investigated oral reading fluency as a measure of growth in reading proficiency. Yet, little research has been done with these measures in the context of progress monitoring in Tier 2 systems. First, we document teachers' progress-monitoring decisions on type of passage (on-grade or off-grade) and how often to…

Although the recent identification of the five critical components of early literacy has been a catalyst for modifications to the content of materials used to provide reading instruction and the tools used to examine student's acquisition of early literacy skills, these skills have not received equal attention from test developers and publishers.…

We examined instructional processes in classrooms where students with and without disabilities received mathematics instruction to understand the relationship among key instructional process variables and achievement as measured by interim and end-of-year summative assessments. Teachers (N = 78) completed instructional logs daily and administered…

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.…

Within a response to intervention system of teaching and learning, important instructional decision-making (e.g., implementation of targeted intervention) is regularly tied to the results of formative assessments administered to students throughout the academic year. The validity of these instructional decisions depends to an extent on the…

In this technical report, we describe a study examining the internal structures of the easyCBM reading measures, Grades K-5. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of 114 Kindergarten students, 43 first graders, 82 second graders, 100 third graders, 109 fourth graders, and 71 fifth graders attending schools in Oregon, Georgia, South…

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…

We present scaling outcomes for mathematics assessments used in the fall to screen students at risk of failing to learn the knowledge and skills described in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Focal Point Standards. At each grade level, the assessment consisted of a 48-item test with three 16-item sub-test sets aligned to the…

In this paper we review different methods for teachers to recommend accommodations in large scale tests. Then we present data on the stability of their judgments on variables relevant to this decision-making process. The outcomes from the judgments support the need for a more explicit model. Four general categories are presented: student…

The purpose of this study was to develop general outcome measures (GOM) in mathematics so that teachers could focus their instruction on needed prerequisite skills. We describe in detail, the manner in which content-related evidence was established and then present a number of statistical analyses conducted to evaluate the technical adequacy of…

In this series of studies, we investigated the technical adequacy of three curriculum-based measures used as benchmarks and for monitoring progress in three critical reading- related skills: fluency, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. In particular, we examined the following easyCBM measurement across grades 3-7 at fall, winter, and spring…

The purpose of this study was to develop and gather validity evidence for silent reading fluency passages. A number of passages were written following a traditional story grammar structure (character, setting, events) and placed on a computer for students to read silently. We describe in detail, the manner in which content-related evidence was…

In this technical report, we describe the development and piloting of a series of mathematics progress monitoring measures intended for use with students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. These measures, available as part of easyCBM[TM], an online progress monitoring assessment system, were developed in 2007 and 2008 and administered to…

In this technical report, the authors describe the development and piloting of reading comprehension measures as part of a comprehensive progress monitoring literacy assessment system developed in 2006 for use with students in Kindergarten through fifth grade. They begin with a brief overview of the two conceptual frameworks underlying the…