This study outlines a formative assessment sys tem using a consistent set of cut scores on Curriculum-Based Measurement-Reading (CBM-R) probes and investigates four statisti cal methods for establishing cut scores. Cut scores were established using the Minnesota statewide achievement test in reading at grade 3 as the criterion for a successful outcome. Participants were 2,191 students from five dis tricts in rural and outer-ring suburban east cen tral Minnesota, each of whom completed the statewide achievement test in reading and also CBM-R probes between grade 1 and grade 3. This study examined the relationship between CBM-R and the state test and compared the util ity and accuracy of each of four statistical meth ods for establishing cut scores. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis provided the most flexibility in establishing desired levels of diagnostic accuracy (i.e., sensi tivity, specificity, positive predictive power, and negative predictive power). The benefits of a set of consistent cut scores for use within a response to intervention (RTI) framework are discussed.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandated statewide accountability testing and focused the accountability conversation on reading. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between curriculum-based measurement for reading (R-CBM) and state accountability test scores, potential grade differences in relationship magnitude, and differences in relationship magnitude among R-CBM and Maze as they compare to state test scores. Data for 5,472 students in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 8 were correlated and resulted in corrected coefficients that ranged from .51 (eighth graders) to .71 (third graders) for R-CBM and .49 (eighth graders) to .54 (seventh graders) for Maze. The coefficients between R-CBM and state test scores were significantly larger for third and fifth graders than those for eighth graders. No significant differences in magnitude were found between the correlation coefficients for state test scores to R-CBM and to Maze among seventh or eighth graders. Potential implications and suggestions for future research are included.

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This study examined the reading growth rates of 7,544 students in Grades 2–6, measured over 1 year using Reading—Curriculum-Based Measurement (R—CBM) benchmark assessments administered in the fall, winter, and spring. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling to establish and compare student rates of growth within each grade level based on initial level of performance. Results suggest that growth rates vary significantly, conditional on initial level of performance, with much lower rates of growth for students at the bottom and top of the distribution. Implications for using R—CBM in a response-to-intervention model are discussed.

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