With the advent of Precision Teaching more than 50 years ago, researchers and practitioners began to examine how to use K-12 students' academic data to guide instructional decisions. Although the field has advanced with the use of curriculum-based measurement and data-driven decision rules for reading and math, the same is not true in the area of…

Assessment and instruction of reading tend to dominate current discussions of early literacy. Shifting the focus to writing, this article addresses the assessment of writing for students in kindergarten through second grade. Using curriculum-based measurement of written expression for beginning writers, teachers can measure growth of smaller…

Many early childhood assessment practices involve table top testing that requires young children to behave like an adult (e.g., follow adult directives, attend to task, and answer questions). Research and professional policy standards have identified and mandated alternatives. Authentic assessment is the alternative to conventional testing…

There is increasing evidence that a significant number of children in America are not learning important basic reading skills. Response to intervention (RTI) for support in reading is appropriate, but what does a school district do about students who are in Tier 3 and not making progress? Teachers and psychologists at the Special School District…

As a part of the increasing emphasis among schools on meeting important statewide academic goals, schools are focusing more closely on the progress of individual students. Parents have a similar goal--to monitor the progress of their child. Frequent student progress monitoring accomplishes this common goal, in that it is used to track the progress…

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) is a method teachers use to find out how students are progressing in basic academic areas such as math, reading, writing, and spelling. CBM can be helpful to parents because it provides current, week-by-week information on the progress their children are making. When a teacher uses CBM, he or she finds out how…

Poor math performance is a major concern leading the current educational reform agenda. Many educational math critics are claiming a math crisis. Researchers and school personnel are trying to resolve this crisis. Some are looking at curriculum-based evaluation (CBE) as a process for solving this problem. CBE and curriculum-based measurement (CBM)…

There are a number of steps that parents can take to ensure that a child realizes the benefits of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM). The first is to become familiar with CBM. This article describes steps for parents both when CBM has not been implemented in the classroom and following adoption.

Presented here is an overview of Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM)--a standardized process of obtaining data regarding a student's acquisition of skills in reading, writing, math, and spelling. A review of research that has utilized CBM in its efforts to define effective teaching strategies also is offered. Overall, the goal of this discussion is…

As a special education teacher, locating effective techniques for improving and tracking her students' reading progress became an ongoing task. During the author's first year in that role, she realized immediately that finding an effective approach for improving reading was crucial for her students. A professor introduced her peers and her to…

In this article, the author examines the role the literacy coach at her school has played in supporting the kindergarten through second grade teachers. Using a theoretical framework for classroom communities (Pintaone-Hernandez, 2002), she reflects on how the literacy coach has helped teachers maintain a professional learning community in the wake…

Student Progress Monitoring (SPM) offers an effective and time-efficient way for teachers and administrators to make informed instructional decisions and quantify students' rate of progress. SPM differs from traditional standardized tests in that it involves administering short tests (typically one to five minutes) frequently, usually one or more…

Explains how course-embedded, qualitative-assessment strategies can focus faculty attention on the actual learning taking place for students. Finds that, when faculty assign a high priority to facilitating student learning rather than merely transferring information, they are demonstrating a behavior that reflects the paradigm shift from a…

Curriculum-based measurement encompasses an assessment methodology that can be used to develop goals, benchmarks, or short-term objectives for individualized educational programs for students with disabilities. Teachers also use curriculum-based measurement as a means for monitoring student progress across the year. This paper describes…

Meaningful assessments should inform early childhood intervention practices. The essential relationship between assessment and curriculum is an organizing principle of the Division of Early Childhood Recommended Practices. One tool that combines assessment and curriculum into a comprehensive system for supporting and serving young children and…