How would instruction and student learning improve if educators made the time to really understand and practice a new curriculum before implementing it in classrooms with students? In Orange County, California, educators are finding out by testing an approach of preimplementation professional learning for a full year before applying a new…

What would it look like to engage in more humanizing assessment practices, practices that support the positive development of students' identity, agency, and belonging? In a Southern California school district, a group of teachers have been working toward doing exactly that. One of the first things the teachers did was to recognize that the…

This report provides the perspectives of multiple respondent groups -- districts, principals, and math teachers -- on math-focused professional learning (PL) for teachers. The authors explore the factors that district and school leaders consider when selecting math-focused PL. These factors include principal autonomy to select PL; teachers'…

English learners (ELs) experience difficulty with mathematical problem solving because word problems require complex processes beyond basic math skills, such as the use of linguistic information, identifying relevant information, and constructing the appropriate problem statement. This study used a combined multiple baseline design and criterion…

This study examined whether curriculum-based measures (CBMs) of math word-problem contributed unique variance in predictions of performance on high-stakes tests, beyond the contribution of calculation and reading skills. CBMs were administered to a representative sample of 142 third-grade students at three time points. Results indicate that…

Oral reading fluency is frequently used in school settings to assess student reading skills, but it is somewhat commonly believed that some students can read words fluently while not comprehending (i.e., word callers). Previous studies examining the prevalence of word callers typically included native English speakers rather than English learners…

This study examined the predictive validity of curriculum-based measures in reading for Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) at various levels of English proficiency. Third-grade Spanish-speaking EL students were screened during the fall using DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) and Daze. Predictive validity was examined in relation to spring…

Research consistently demonstrates that attention deficits have a deleterious effect on academic achievement. Impairments in attention, and not hyperactivity/impulsivity, are associated with learning difficulties and academic problems in students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To date, most studies have focused on symptoms…

An A-B single-case design assessed at-risk students' responsiveness to mathematics interventions. Four culturally and linguistically diverse second-grade students were given a Tier 2 standard protocol mathematics intervention that included number sense instruction, modeling procedures, guided math drill and practice of addition and subtraction…

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 purpose of this study was to find out which assessment data are used by elementary principals who are currently practicing in Title One California elementary schools with populations of at least 600 students, API scores of 700 or higher, and 40% or more English Learners (ELs) to inform instructional efforts at the school site level to improve…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent that reading performance (as measured by curriculum-based measures [CBM] of oral reading fluency [ORF] and Maze reading comprehension), is related to math performance (as measured by CBM math computation and applied math). Additionally, this study examined which of the two reading measures was a…

Selecting appropriate measures to make decisions about child response to intervention is a key concern. The most commonly used assessment tool in response to intervention (RTI) models is curriculum-based measurement (CBM). However, an issue related to the use of CBM is the identification of measures that are of similar difficulty. To the degree…

Within the context of a mathematics reform effort to implement algebra in elementary schools, there is a pressure to provide results in the form of student achievement scores. However, widely-used measures of student achievement may be unrelated to the ideas and instructional practices encouraged by the reform effort. The inappropriate use of…

Implementation of the curriculum-centered, standards-based federally mandated reform, No Child Left Behind, has placed pressure on teachers, particularly those working in schools comprised of highly diverse and impoverished students, to have their students attain predetermined levels on high stakes, standardized tests. When schools have not met…