Progress Monitoring
and Goal Writing
Section 2: Curriculum-Based Measurement and
Writing Individualized RTI or IEP Goals.
Progress Monitoring
Research has demonstrated that when
teachers use formative evaluation [progress
monitoring] for instructional decision-making
purposes:
– students achieve more
– teacher decision making improves
– students tend to be more aware of their
performance
(e.g., see Fuchs, Deno, Mirkin, 1984; L. S. Fuchs, Fuchs, Hamlett, &
Ferguson, 1992; L. S. Fuchs, Fuchs, Hamlett, & Stecker, 1991;
Stecker, Fuchs, & Fuchs, 2005)
Progress Monitoring Tools
• Used to monitor progress from one year to
the next
• Sensitive to effects of an intervention
• Can be used regardless of curriculum (e.g.
Harcourt, Scott Foresman)
• Useful to inform teaching
• Quick to administer & easy to score
• Provides instant data to graph
• Easily understood by teachers and parents
What is CBM?
• Curriculum-based measurement, or CBM, is a
method of monitoring student progress through
direct assessment of academic skills.
• CBM can be used to measure basic skills in
reading, mathematics, spelling, and written
expression.
• Instructor gives the student brief, timed samples,
or "probes," made up of academic material taken
from grade-level curriculum.
• Performance on a CBM probe is scored for speed,
or fluency, and for accuracy of performance.
CBM covers…
• Reading (Early Literacy skills, Reading Fluency and
Comprehension)
• Math (Early Numeracy skills, Math Computation/
Basic Math facts)
• Writing (Spelling and Written Expression)
• Probes contain a mixture of problems that represent skills to
be mastered by the end of the year
– NOT like traditional mastery/chapter tests
Previous Goal-Setting Strategies:
• Use “data” from standardized achievement
tests like WIAT-II, WJ-III ACH
• Use data from Mastery Tests (e.g. chapter
tests)
• Refer to state standards
• Use a sample goal-bank
• Suggestions on classroom observation of
skills (subjective)
Pitfalls of Previous Strategies
• Standardized Tests (WIAT-II, WJ-ACH):
– Lack of alternate forms
– Less sensitive to short-term gains
– Reliance on age or grade equivalents ≠ accurate
– Ex. Students with 1 year delay typically not considered
“significantly discrepant” from their peers, and may not qualify
for special education.
• Mastery tests do not reflect maintenance or generalization of
skills over the course of the school year
• Little guidance in selecting goals from state standards/ goalbanks:
– No consistent evaluation tool to measure goals written from
standards or goal banks!
Pitfalls, continued…
• Examples of Previous Goals/Objectives:
– “Student will perform spelling skills at 3rd
grade level.”
– “Student will master basic math facts with
80% accuracy.”
– “Student will read 1 story per week.”
– “Student will read aloud with 80% accuracy
and 80% comprehension.”
• Little research supports that these types of goals relate to
improved educational outcomes.
• Difficult to consistently measure over time.
• Tendency to write un-ambitious goals in hopes that student
will show “some” progress over the year.
To improve our goal writing:
• Remember: goals are statements about the
power or impact of our instructional programs.
• Goals need to be more clearly defined.
• Identify specific skills deficits through universal
screening measures using CBM.
• Target a few, but important goals and objectives.
• Ensure goals are measurable and linked to
validated progress monitoring approaches.
CBM to write IEP and RTI goals
• CBM scores from Universal Screenings are
easily translated into goals for RTI intervention
and IEPs.
• Using CBM to write goals lets us accurately
compare performance later in the year because:
– Test administration of CBM is consistent (and
quick!)
– Scoring procedures are consistent
– Difficulty level of test is always consistent
RTI: Who needs a goal?
• A desirable goal for all students is to achieve a score at or
above the 50th%ile on the Universal Screenings (Fall/Winter/
Spring).
• WOVSED recommends that students below the 25th%ile are
considered “At-Risk.”
– Use AIMSweb site to schedule PM.
• Students who perform in between the 25th and 50th%iles may
need “Strategic Monitoring.”
– Consider monitoring these students, just less often.
– Option to do this through AIMSweb site.
Level of Intervention and Monitoring Frequency
Tier 3
Progress Monitoring (< 25th%ile)
(Every two weeks or weekly)
Tier 2
Strategic Monitoring (25th-50th%ile)
(Monthly)
Tier 1
75-80% of students
Universal Screening
(Three times per year)
Components of our Goals
• Current/Present Level of Performance
– What the student is currently able to do in the targeted
area.
– Taken from Fall, Winter, Spring Universal Screenings
– Works with whatever CBM tool you are using
(DIBELS/AIMSweb, etc).
• Intervention Goal/Annual Goals and Objectives
–
–
–
–
Growth anticipated for specific time period
Should be ambitious
Must be specific
Must be measurable
Example of Current Levels
Statement
Student’s
Score
50th %ile
score
IEPs: Annual Goals
• CBM probes represent a range of skills to be
mastered by the end of the year.
• CBM-based annual goals are easily
understood by parents.
15
Annual Goal-Line
WIF: Correctly Read Words
Per Minute
100
90
80
70
X
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Weeks of Instruction
16
10
11
12
13
14
Not at Grade Level?
Universal screening data does not always reflect
accurate measurement of skills.
In some cases, Universal Screening data show
that grade-level passages are too frustrating for
some students.
What do we do to get a better understanding of
a student’s current performance level?
Survey Level Assessment (SLA)
• Process to determine Current Performance Levels when student
is not working at grade level.
• Can be used for RTI or IEP purposes.
• Student is tested in successive levels, beginning with current
grade placement, until he/she scores anywhere within the
“Average range.”
• Create SLA table, using Aggregate Norm Tables. Find score at or
above the 25th%ile for the particular grade and time of year.
• Scoring anywhere within the “Green” on AIMSweb Individual or
Comparison reports.
Create Survey Level Assessment Table
• Sally is a 4th grade student who was tested in the Fall.
• Use AIMSweb Aggregate Growth Tables (next slide).
Grade of
Passage
Passage 1 Passage 2 Passage 3 Median Instructional
(WRC/E)
(WRC/E)
(WRC/E) (WRC/E)
Range?
4
51/6
38/11
59/2
51/6
3
60/4
58/3
42/7
58/4**
At-Risk
“Average”
*Using Survey Level Assessment, Sally’s performance is Average given a
3rd grade AIMSWEB R-CBM probe (Fall).
Using AIMSweb Individual or Comparison Reports:
Box Plots
¼ of scores
Above Average
¼ of scores
Fourth Quartile
(75th – 100th%ile)
Third Quartile
(50th- 74th %ile)
Average
¼ of scores
¼ of scores
Below Average
Median or Middle Score
Second Quartile
(25th-49th %ile)
First Quartile
(0-24th%ile)
John
Conducting a Survey
John
3rd grade
4th grade
Levelpassage
Assessmentpassage
62/4
49/7
John
5th grader:
5th grade passage
26/12
Guidelines for administering SLA probes
• Administer probes from successive grade-levels, beginning at the
student’s current grade placement or one year above the student’s
functioning level.
 Reading-CBM: Use median score of 3 probes.
 Rule of Thumb on R-CBM: If WRC is 20 or fewer, stop
administering probes on this level and move one level below.
 (For middle/high school students, suggested starting point is 6th
grade passages. Survey levels higher or lower as needed).
Creating the Goal: 5-Steps
• Step 1. Document Current/Present Levels of Performance:
“Sally’s Current Performance on a 4th grade AIMSweb R-CBM
probe is 51 Words Read Correctly, while the expected
performance level is 103 Words Read Correctly (50th%ile
Target).”
“Using Survey Level Assessment, Sally’s performance is
Average for Fall when given a 3rd Grade AIMSweb R-CBM
probe.”
Creating the Goal
• Step 2. Decide how you will determine the desired goal level.
– Two options:
• Use Benchmark scores
– Compared to School/District
– Relate to High-Stakes Tests
• Use Norms
– Percentile (and associated score)
– Growth Rates/ Rates of Improvement (ROI)
Benchmark: Options
• Benchmark for success on some outcome
measure, (ex. 71 WRC/min.) Correlates from
high-stakes testing.
Norms
•
Percentiles and corresponding score:
– Students at the 25th%ile (lower end of the Average
range) read 81WRC/min.
81WRC/min
Growth Rates
(Rate of Improvement/ ROI)
• How much growth students make in a week’s time. (ROI for
students whose scores are entered into AIMSweb)
• Formula to determine how much growth you would like to see
in a specific amount of time.
*Goal =
________________________________ +
Current Performance Level
(___________________ X ____________________)
# weeks until goal reviewed
Growth Rate (use chart)
Growth Rates
(Rate of Improvement)
Ex. 3rd grader Ben’s median R-CBM score = 35.
• 12 weeks until the end of the school year.
• Team would like to see Ben make progress at a
similar rate to his peers (1.0 words/week).
35WRC/min+ (12wks x 1.0) = 47WRC/min
This is the goal by the end of the year!
Benchmark, Norm or Growth Rate?
• Are you more concerned with a specific outcome (i.e. on
high-stakes tests), or how one student performs compared
to a population of others (local or national?)
• Are you working with a student with a well-documented
learning style?
• Using the Rate of Improvement is not always ambitious:
– Based on progress made by students in general ed. classroom who
are NOT receiving additional intervention.
– Point of RTI is to help kids catch up
– ROI will never be help students catch up because they will be
learning at the same pace as students receiving no intervention;
students receiving intervention need to learn at a faster pace.
Setting the Goal Level
• Step 3. Team decides what an appropriate goal will be!
– Be ambitious! Select the level that you want to see the student
achieve within a specific amount of time.
– Research has shown that ambitious goals can lead to better student
achievement:
– How ambitious you are should depend on:
– How often you can feasibly provide services
– How confident you are in the power of your instructional
programs and resources
Selecting Length of Time
• Step 4: Team must determine how much time to allow until the
goal can be feasibly reached.
• RTI goals written to reflect length of intervention:
– Depends on how long interventionist needs to effectively
teach skill.
– Individualized based on student need.
– Depends on how often you will progress monitor.
• Need 7-9 data points to plot a trend-line.
• IEPs:
– Will have an annual goal (apx. 36 weeks) and short-term
objectives.
Suggestions for Writing Objectives
Annual goal - Minus current performance
/ Divided by number of weeks between
baseline and goal
= Short term / Weekly objective.
33
Writing the Goal
• Step 5: Write goal into a standard format.
– Same/similar format can be used for RTI/IEP goals.
– Facilitates process of goal-writing.
– Easily understood by general, special and remedial
teachers.
– Can be used for any deficit area pertinent to a
Specific Learning Disability
– Basic reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension,
math calculation, math reasoning, written expression.
Sample RTI Goal Written w/AIMSweb
Early Literacy Goal (Kindergartener)
Current Performance:
Lizzie’s current level of performance on a Kindergarten
AIMSweb LSF probe is 2 Letter Sounds/min, while the expected
level of performance is 14 correct Letter Sounds for Fall.
Goal:
At the end of 8 weeks, when given a K AIMSweb LSF probe,
Lizzie will say Correct Letter Sounds with an expected
performance level of 22 LS/min.
IEP Goal Written with AIMSweb
Basic Reading Skills Goal (Second Grader)
Current Performance Level:
Terrance’s current level of performance when given an AIMSweb
2nd Grade R-CBM probe is 40 WRC/min, while the expected level of
performance is 82 WRC/min, (50th%ile target).
Goal:
In 30 weeks, when given an AIMSweb 2nd Grade R-CBM probe,
Terrence will achieve a median score of 100 WRC/min with less
than 4 errors.
Objective:
Each week, when given an AIMSweb 2nd Grade R-CBM (Reading
Fluency) probe, Terrence will increase his score by 2 Words Read
Correctly.