Curriculum-Based Assessment and Other Informal Measures Chapter 5 Terry Overton Assessing Learners with Special Needs, 5e Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education,

Curriculum-Based Assessmentand Other Informal Measures

Chapter 5

Terry OvertonAssessing Learners with Special Needs, 5e

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

All rights reserved.

Curriculum-based assessment- Using curriculum materialsto measure student progress and achievement. This includesa variety of testing methods such as teacher made tests, tests made by the producer of the materials such asend of chapter tests, and other assessments using theactual content of the instructional materials.




Curriculum-based measurement- A specific type of curriculum-based assessment that uses repeated assessments or measurements of specific skills. Theseassessments are based on a long-term goal and seek todetermine if a student is progressing along an aim line tomeet that annual goal.

Curriculum-based measurements are formative evaluations.This means that the progress is monitored during theinstructional period rather than just at the end of theinstructional period like summative evaluations.




Curriculum-Based Measurement

CBMs or curriculum-based measurement has been foundto be effective in assessing of oral reading fluency,spelling skills, written expression, and mathematics skills.




Constructing Curriculum-Based Measurement for Oral Reading

* Oral reading fluency is one skill that indicates how well a student is achieving within the curriculum.* Oral reading fluency measures are constructed by selecting grade level passages that the student has not read before, and asking the student to read the passages.* The teacher counts the number of correctly read words read aloud in 1 minute. * The goal of using CBM is to determine if the student continues to increase in the number of correctly read words from one week to the next and to make adjustments if the student is not progressing as expected.




Constructing Curriculum-Based Measurement for Oral Reading Fluency

Steps:1. Select the number of passages needed to have a total of two passages per week plus an additional 3 passages to take the baseline.2. Make 2 copies of each passage. The teacher’s copy will have the cumulative total of words at the end of each line so the teacher can quickly count the words read and record the total.3. Have the student read 3 passages to determine the baseline. The baseline score can either be the median score of the 3 scores or the average of the 3 scores.4. Use the established expectations of the number of words expected to increase per week and multiply by the number of weeks of instruction to determine the aim line.




Constructing Curriculum-Based MeasurementFor Oral Reading Fluency

For example, if the baseline score is 35 words and the number of words that the student is expected to increase per week is 1.25 for 20 weeks the aim line is calculated as:

20 x 1.25 = 25 + 35 = 60 weeks expected expected baseline goal increase increase per in 20 week weeks




Charting Progress of Curriculum-Based Measurement- Aim Line

60

55

50

45

40

35

W o r d s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 25..….

Weeks Baseline

aim line




Charting Progress of a CBM

Once the aim line has been plotted, the number of words correctly read is marked after each reading. The student should complete at least 2 CBM tasks per week.

The next slide illustrates the progress of a student after several measurements have been charted.




Charting Progress of Curriculum-Based Measurement

60

55

50

45

40

35

W o r d s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 25..….

Weeks Baseline

aim line




The previous slide indicates that the student is keeping pace with the number of words expected each week. In other words, the student is increasing the numberof correctly read words at the level expected for studentsin the second grade.

Using CBM to Make Educational Decisions

Look at the next slide. This slide will indicate that the pace of oral reading has changed. As a teacher, whatdoes this mean for educational planning and interventions?





60

55

50

45

40

35

W o r d s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14…… 25..….

Weeks Baseline

aim line




Using CBM to Make Educational Decisions

As you can see in the previous slide, the student’s pacebegan to decrease. Generally, when the student progressdeclines for 3 or more measures taken, the educationalinstruction needs to be changed. In this case, additionalinstruction, individual intervention, and additionaltutoring at school helped to bring the student oral reading rate back to the level expected.

When the data collected indicates that a student is readingwell beyond the rate expected, the aim line may need to be adjusted or the curriculum may need to be changed to bemore challenging for the student.An example is shown in thenext slide.





60

55

50

45

40

35

W o r d s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 25..….

Weeks Baseline

aim line




Other Informal Measures

Criterion-referenced Tests- To assess a student's progress in skill mastery against specific standards

Criterion-related Tests-To assess student's progress on items that are similar to objectives or standards




Checklists and QuestionnairesA variety of measures used to determinestudent's skill level or behavioral functioning.These instruments may be prepared by the teacher or they may be commercially prepared.A variety of checklists and questionnairesexist that may be designed to be completedby the teacher, student, or parent. An exampleof a teacher made questionnaire is presentedon the next slide.




Study Skills Questionnaire

1.Where do you like to study at home? ___________ _________________________________________2. How do you study your class notes? ___________ _________________________________________3. Describe the strategies you use to study your textbook: ________________________________ _________________________________________4. What time of day is best for you to study? ______ _________________________________________5. Do you prefer to study alone or with another classmate? _______________________________6. How do you practice answering questions? _______________________________________________




Writing Items for Teacher Made Tests

All teachers evaluate their students to assess progresswithin the curriculum. Teachers not only assess theprogress of skills, such as with CBMs,they also assessacquired knowledge.

Writing effective test items that measure acquisition andmastery of material requires items that assess a variety of levels of knowledge. For example, items may be writtento assess the simple skill level of rote memory or to assessanalytical skills. These represent 2 different levels ofknowledge and thinking.




Examples of Different Forms and Levels of Test Items

1. The standard deviation is found by determining thesquare root of _________________. (Recall, fill

in the blank or short answer).2. The standard deviation is found by determining the:

a. the sum of squares b. the difference c. the square root of the variance d. the squares (Recall, multiple choice).




Examples of Different Forms and Levels of Test Items

3. The standard deviation is the square root of the variance T F (recall, True or False)4. Look at the list of scores below. Calculate the standard

deviation for this set of data: 98, 99, 100, 77, 78, 65, 94, 94, 93, 71, 68, 69, 75, 94, 94, 98 (Application, synthesis)5. Select the best test from the choices below and explain why

you think it is the best one. TEST A TEST B SEM = 2 SEM = 2 Standard Deviation 7 Standard Deviation 10 (Essay, application, analysis and synthesis)




As you can see from the previous slides, there are many ways to write test items to assess the same content. As ateacher, you will need to determine the level of understanding you expect given the developmental age of the students and the instruction provided. Test itemsshould be written to reflect these educational expectations.

Writing Test Items, Continued




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Curriculum-Based Assessment and Other Informal Measures Chapter 5 Terry Overton Assessing Learners with Special Needs, 5e Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education,