Examining Oral Passage Reading Rate Across Three Curriculum-Based Measurement Tools for Predicting Grade-Level Proficiency

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2017

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.17105/SPR-2016-0014.V46-4

Abstract

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for oral passage reading (OPR) is among the most commonly used tools for making screening decisions regarding academic proficiency status for students in first through sixth grades. Multiple publishers make available OPR tools, and while they are designed to measure the same broad construct of reading, research suggests that student performance varies within grades and across publishers. Despite the existence of multiple publishers of CBM tools for OPR, many of which include publisher-specific recommendations comparing student performance to a proficiency standard, the use of normative-based cut scores to interpret student performance remains prevalent. In the current study, three commercially available CBM tools for OPR were administered to 1,482 students in first through sixth grade. Results suggest differences between normative- and criterion-based approaches to determining cut scores for screening decisions. Implications regarding resource allocation for students in need of additional intervention are discussed.

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