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/ goal banks: – 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 3 rd 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 50 th %ile on the Universal Screenings (Fall/Winter/ Spring).

• WOVSED recommends that students below the 25 th %ile are considered “At-Risk.” – Use AIMSweb site to schedule PM.

• Students who perform in between the 25 th need “Strategic Monitoring.” and 50 th %iles may – Consider monitoring these students, just less often.

– Option to do this through AIMSweb site.

Level of Intervention and Monitoring Frequency Tier 3 Tier 2 Progress Monitoring (< 25 th %ile)

(Every two weeks or weekly)

Strategic Monitoring (25 th -50 th %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 50 th %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.

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Annual Goal-Line

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Weeks of Instruction 10 11 12 13 14

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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 25 th %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 4 th grade student who was tested in the Fall.

•

Use AIMSweb Aggregate Growth Tables (next slide).

Grade of Passage Passage 1 (WRC/E) Passage 2 (WRC/E) Passage 3 (WRC/E) Median (WRC/E) Instructional Range?

At-Risk

4

51/6 38/11 59/2

51/6 3

60/4 58/3 42/7

58/4**

“Average” *Using Survey Level Assessment, Sally’s performance is Average given a 3 rd grade AIMSWEB R-CBM probe (Fall).

Using AIMSweb Individual or Comparison Reports: Box Plots

¼ of scores

Above Average Fourth Quartile

(75 th – 100 th %ile) ¼ of scores

Average

¼ of scores

Third Quartile

(50 th - 74 th %ile)

Median or Middle Score Second Quartile

(25 th -49 th %ile) ¼ of scores

Below Average First Quartile

(0-24 th %ile)

John 3 rd grade John 4 th grade Conducting a Survey Level Assessment

62/4

passage

49/7

John 5 th 5 th grader: 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 6 th 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 4 th grade AIMSweb R-CBM probe is 51 Words Read Correctly, while the expected performance level is 103 Words Read Correctly (50 th %ile Target).” “Using Survey Level Assessment, Sally’s performance is Average for Fall when given a 3 rd probe.” Grade AIMSweb R-CBM

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 25 th %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. 3 rd 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.

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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 2 nd Grade R-CBM probe is 40 WRC/min, while the expected level of performance is 82 WRC/min, (50 th %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.