WRITTEN EXPRESSION CURRICULUM
BASED MEASURES (WE-CBM): AN
OVERVIEW FOR RTI
Today’s Presentation:


Provide an overview of how to utilize an RTI process
in written language.
Review
 screening
assessments,
 curriculum based progress monitoring,
 scoring rubrics,
 instructional decision making.
Learning Targets for Today

After this training, you will be able to say:
I
can use three different types of scoring tools to look
at student work samples.
 I can analyze student errors and make instructional
decisions.
 I can group students according to common needs.
 I can use the state’s writing rubric to score student work.
 I can take what I’ve learned and schedule a year long
assessment plan.
If you’re riding a horse…
Traditional Assessments


Six-trait scoring rubric
WASL scoring rubric
Challenges


Time
Problems with correlations (Gansle, et. al)
Why Written Expression (WE)-CBM?



Identify WHO has a problem
(benchmark screening)
What is the problem?
(error analysis)
Instructional Planning
(progress monitoring and instruction)
One Kind of CBM
KEY CONCEPT: Correlation

Causation
Scoring WE-CBM
 Reflection
of multiple skills, correlates highly with other
assessments, and is sensitive to subtle changes in
learning. It can be used to monitor progress.
Repeatedly administering a WE-CBM will not improve written language
achievement.
changes achievement!
Administering WE-CBM



Administering the 1 minute think - 3 minute write:
Today you are going to write a story. I am going to read a
sentence to you first, and then I want you to write a short story
about what happens. You will have 1 minute to think about and
plan the story you will write. Then you will have 3 minutes to
write it. Do your best work. If you don't know how to spell a
word, you should guess. Are there any questions?
For the next minute, think about . . . [insert story-starter]. (starts
the stopwatch). At the end of 1 minute, the examiner says, Start
writing.
Here’s your writing prompt:

For the next minute, think about . . . The best
Birthday I ever had…
Sample of Student Work (8th grade)
The Best birthday I ever had was when the Whole
family came from defferent Places. When they
were in my party they eat and talk to my Parents
and some peoPle were doing some other stuff. Also
my causins came and they brought therePS2 and we
play and it was fun because the Game was about
Rasing after that we went to Play Soccer and It was
a fun birthday.
Some Common CBMs Error Analyses
Appropriate for Primary Grades
TWW- total words written
WSC- words spelled correctly
CWS- correct writing sequence: joining of 2 words that are
spelled correctly AND grammatically correct.
 Appropriate for Intermediate and Above
%WSC- percentage of words spelled correctly
%CWS- percentage of correct writing sequences
 Accurate Production
CMIWS- correct minus incorrect writing
sequence

Correlations with Standardized
Assessments
4th Grade
7th Grade
10th Grade
TWW
-.075
.295
WSC
.024
.584**
CWS
.207
CMIWS
.424**
.724**
1/6 who failed met BM
36/37 who passed met BM
%CWS
.538**
.819**
0/6 who failed met BM
36/37 who passed met BM
%CWS
.613* (N=116) .569*
(N=115)
*p,.001 **p<.01
1/6 who failed met BM
36/37 who passed met BM
0/6 who failed met BM
33/37 who passed met BM
.819*
(N=89)
What does this mean?...


WE-CBM as a potential universal
screener/benchmarking
WE-CBM as a potential progress monitoring tool
Scoring WSC


Highlight or underline how many words are
correctly spelled
Total
Sample Scoring
Kyle: The best birthday I ever had was…..
when I was going roller skating because They had limbo
and a dice game. It also was good because arcade
and you could buy a candy and vampir teeth.
Sample Scoring
Kyle: The best birthday I ever had was…..
when I was going roller
skating because They had
limbo and a dice game. It
also was good because
arcade and you could buy
a candy and vampir teeth.
WSC=28
Guided Practice
Isabella: There was a loud knock on my door. When I opened
the door I found a great big box with a bow. I picked up
the box and…….
Somebody knock on the Door and they leff a big box with
a bow. it was great when he open the door
Guided Practice
Isabella : There was a loud knock on my door. When I
opened the door I found a great big box with a bow. I
picked up the box and…….
Somebody knock on the Door
and they leff a big box with
a bow. it was great when
he open the door
WSC= 19
Guided Practice
Nick: One day, while I was sitting at home, I heard a loud
“BANG” outside. I ran to the window and saw….
and so a gowt hiding on a tin bucit and then it went bag
then so egen wet it wes and is wes a caw steping on a
Guided Practice
Nick : One day, while I was sitting at home, I heard a loud
“BANG” outside. I ran to the window and saw….
and so a gowt hiding on a tin
bucit and then it went bagh
then so egen wet it wes and is
wes a caw steping on a
WSC=19
Guided Practice
Lilly: “Will you keep quiet?” whispered Bob, “If you don’t
someone will…..”
Chatch us like the mean old rotten neighbor she eat us
hurry up how long does it take you just get the bag
hurry up grab it stop burping it’s not funny grab the bag
here she comes ruuuunnnn!!!!
Guided Practice
Lilly : “Will you keep quiet?” whispered Bob, “If you don’t someone
will…..”
Chatch us like the mean old rotten
neighbor she eat us hurry up how
long does it take you just get the
bag hurry up grab it stop
burping it’s not funny grab the
bag here she comes ruuuunnnn!!!!
WSC= 37
Independent and Group Practice
Grandma's Dog
I like my grandma’s dog. She is funny and crazey. I
like my dog. She is cool. Her fur is wearm as a
fireplace. I love her. I like her. And She like me too. I
like my grandma’s dog more than my Dad. And she
like’s me more than my grandma. She is fun and
weird I love her. And she love’s me too. She is nice
and friendly. And she is prite. Sometimes my
grandma get’s mad at my dog.
Scoring Correct Writing Sequence

CWS- Two adjoined words are :
Spelled correctly.
 Semantically correct.
 Syntactically correct.
 Correctly punctuation






(Jewell & Malecki, 2005).
^The ^dog ^ran ^after ^the ^stick.^
^A ^cat chasd the ^mouse.^
some cars ^are fst. ^He ^likes Fast truks.
^She are cool.^
7 Correct
4 Correct
3 Correct
2 Correct
Sample Scoring
Kyle: The best birthday I ever had was…..
when I was going roller skating because they had limbo
and a dice game. It also was good because arcade
and you could buy a candy and vampir teeth.
Sample Scoring
Kyle: The best birthday I ever had was…..
when I was going roller skating because they had limbo
and a dice game. It also was good because arcade
and you could buy a candy and vampir teeth.
when ^I^ was ^going^ roller^ skating ^because
^they^ had ^limbo ^and ^a ^dice ^game. ^^
It ^also ^was^ good ^because  arcade  and^
you^ could ^buy^ a ^candy ^and vampir
teeth.
CWS=25
Guided Practice
Isabella : There was a loud knock on my door. When I
opened the door I found a great big box with a bow. I
picked up the box and…….
Somebody knock on the Door and they leff a big box with
a bow. it was great when he open the door
Guided Practice
Isabella : There was a loud knock on my door. When I
opened the door I found a great big box with a bow. I
picked up the box and…….
Somebody  knock on ^the  Door
 and ^ they leff  a ^ big ^box
^with ^a ^bow. ^ it  was ^ great
^when ^ he  open  the ^door
CWS=12
Guided Practice
Nick : One day, while I was sitting at home, I heard a loud
“BANG” outside. I ran to the window and saw….
and so a gowt hiding on a tin bucit and then it went bag
then so egen wet it wes and is wes a caw steping on a
Guided Practice
Nick : One day, while I was sitting at home, I heard a loud
“BANG” outside. I ran to the window and saw….
and so a gowt hiding^ on ^ a ^
tin  bucit  and ^ then ^it ^went 
bagh then  so  egenwet it wes
and  is wes acaw steping on^a
CWS=7
Guided Practice
Lilly : “Will you keep quiet?” whispered Bob, “If you don’t
someone will…..”
Chatch us like the mean old rotten neighbor she eat us
hurry up how long does it take you just get the bag
hurry up grab it stop burping it’s not funny grab the bag
here she comes ruuuunnnn!!!!
Guided Practice
Lilly : “Will you keep quiet?” whispered Bob, “If you don’t
someone will…..”
Chatch us ^ like ^ the ^ mean ^ old ^ rotten
^ neighbor  she  eat  us  hurry ^ up 
how  long ^ does ^ it ^ take ^ you just
get ^ the ^ bag hurry up grab it 
stop  burping it’s not ^ funny grab the
^ bag  here  she ^ comes ruuuunnnn!!!!
CWS= 17
Independent and Group Practice
Grandma's Dog
I like my grandma’s dog. She is funny and crazey. I
like my dog. She is cool. Her fur is wearm as a
fireplace. I love her. I like her. And She like me too. I
like my grandma’s dog more than my Dad. And she
like’s me more than my grandma. She is fun and
weird I love her. And she love’s me too. She is nice
and friendly. And she is prite. Sometimes my
grandma get’s mad at my dog.
%CWS




Take the total CWS
Count the total words
Divide the total CWS by total words
Multiply by 100
Score Your Partner’s Best Birthday



CWS
WSC
% CWS
Score the 8th grader’s best birthday…



CWS
WSC
% CWS
Student Sample
th
(8
grade)
Analysis of Work

Look at all the samples of student work (including
yours) from today. If this was your class, ask
yourself:
 Are
there patterns in the data that suggest anything?
 Where
might there be a gap in instruction?
 Where might there be a lack of background knowledge?
 What skills are most students lacking?
Error Analysis
Name the Problem
What is the problem?
What do the numbers
say?
Fluency
amount of text
Total words written
Legibility
readability , handwriting
Letter formation analysis
Conventions
Spelling, punctuation,
capitalization
% errors in conventions
** Differentiate between specific types of
convention errors.
Syntactic Maturity
sentence lengths/types
% of complete sentences% of sentence types
Semantic Maturity
Vocabulary
type-token ratio
Content
Organization
holistic scoring rubrics
Writing Process
planning
observational/holistic
scales
Thinking through Interventions


Group Students according to scores
Look at all the samples of student work (including
yours) from today. If this was your class, ask yourself
 What
 (A
are the common skills the groups need?
student may be in more than one group)
 What
are the skill gaps?
 How might I extend the learning for students?
 How could I continue to reinforce the learning through
the next lesson/unit?
Possible Student Needs

Concepts
Semantics
 Writing to prompt


Strategies
Organizing writing through thinking process
 Using thinking time productively
 Writing Fluency


Skills

Conventions (spelling, punctuation, grammar),
handwriting
“Writing is not just saying something. It is a process by which to think about what
to say.”
(National Commission on Writing, 2006, p. 15)
DIBELS benchmarks for %CWS
Levels of Challenge:
97% - 100% Accuracy
Independent
90% - 96% Accuracy
Instructional
< 90% Accuracy
Frustration
AIMSweb Benchmarks for CWS
Grade
Grade
Level
Level
90 %tile
90 %tile
TotalTotal
CWSCWS
Fall Fall
75%tile
90 %tile
Total
Total
CWS
CWS
Fall
Winter
50%tile
75%tile
Total
Total
CWS
CWS
FallFall
90 %tile
75%tile
TotalTotal
CWSCWS
Winter
Winter
75%tile
50%tile
Total
Total
CWSCWS
Winter
Fall
50%tile
50%tile
Total
TotalCWS
CWS
Winter
Winter
2 2
2121
1332
713
3222
227
14
14
3 3
3434
2444
1524
4433
3315
23
23
4 4
4646
3555
2435
5544
4424
32
32
5 5
5656
4563
3245
6351
5132
39
39
6 6
6464
5169
3851
6957
5738
44
44
7 7
6767
5674
4256
7461
6142
48
48
8 8
7373
6177
4861
7765
6548
53
53
9 9
7373
6278
5062
7866
6650
52
52
10 10
7575
6380
5063
8068
6850
56
56
11 11
8383
6983
5569
8370
7055
59
59
12 12
7878
6682
5666
8273
7356
59
59
Intervention Planning
Strategies?
 Concepts?
 Skills?
Recent research supports teaching both skills and
strategies to all students. This means that all
students should be provided with strategies to help
them succeed while engaged in authentic and
meaningful writing tasks and be provided with
explicit instruction in the skills of written language
(Baker, Gersten, Graham, 2001).

Benchmark Assessments






Administer to all students
3 times a year
Allow for full writing process (pre-write, draft, final,
edit, final)
Score using rubric
Use common writing prompt with your grade level or
department (some schools have common school-wide
prompts)
Co-Score (every paper gets 2 scores) with grade level
or department
Score Anchor Papers
Analysis of Student Work



Look at the student who earned the 3. What are the
next steps for this student?
Look at the student who earned the 2. What are the
next steps for this student?
Look at the student who earned the 1. What are the
next steps for this student?
Monitoring Progress

Develop appropriate plan for monitoring progress
 Frequency
of WE-CBM(Every 1-2 weeks)
 Appropriate MASTERY measure(s)
(rule of thumb: completes task successfully on 3 separate
occasions e.g: writing 4 complete sentences on three
separate consecutive occasions)
 Set
Goals with Student
1 minute think/3
minute write
1st Week of
School
Did students meet standard?
Yes
No
Instruction
Instruction/interventions/
grouping
Benchmark +1
minute think/3
minute write
June
Celebrations
Did students meet standard?
Yes
No
Instruction/interventions/
grouping
Progress monitor &
chart progress every 2
weeks
Instruction
January
Benchmark
Assessment
Did students meet standard?
Did students meet standard?
Yes
Benchmark
Assessment
September
No
Chart progress,
recommendations
for next year
Yes
Instruction
No
Instruction/interventions/
grouping
Progress monitor &
chart progress every 2
weeks
References
Baker, S., Gersten, R., & Graham, S. (2001). Teaching expressive writing to
students with learning disabilities: research based applications and examples.
Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(2), 109-123
Gansle, K.A., VanDerHeyden, A.M., Noell, G.H., Resetar, J.L., and Williams, K.L.
(2006). The technical adequacy of curriculum-based and rating based measures
of written expression for elementary school students. School Psychology Review,
35(4), 435-450
Jewell, J. &Malecki, C.K. (2005). The utility of CBM written expression indices:
An investigation of production-dependent, production-independent, and
accurate-production scores. School psychology review, 34(1), 27-44.
McMaster, K., Espin, C. (2007). Technical features of curriculum base
measurement in writing: A literature review. The Journal of Special
Education, (41) 2, 68-84
Robinson, L. & Howell, K. (2008). Best practices in curriculum based
evaluation and written expression. In: Grimes, J. and Thomas, A. (Eds.) Best
Practices in School Psychology V, Chapter 25, Volume 2, 1-14. The
Charlesworth Group.
More Help…




K/1 Literacy site:
http://classrooms.tacoma.k12.wa.us/tps/lk/index.php
2/5 Literacy site:
http://classrooms.tacoma.k12.wa.us/tps/l1/index.php
6/12 Literacy site:
http://classrooms.tacoma.k12.wa.us/tps/l/index.php
OSPI Writing Assessment:
http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/WASL/Writing/def
ault.aspx
Reflection



3 things I’m going to try
2 things I’m concerned about
1 thing I need help with to implement this