Curriculum-Based Measures and Performance on State Assessment and Standardized Tests

Abstract

General outcome measures (GOMs) provide educators with a means to evaluate student progress toward curricular objectives. Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is one type of GOM that has a long history in the research literature with strong empirical support. With the increased emphasis on instruction linked to state standards and statewide achievement tests, the relationship between CBM and these measures has been called into question. This study examined the relationships between CBM of reading, math computation, and math concepts/applications and the statewide standardized achievement test as well as published norm-referenced achievement tests in two districts in Pennsylvania. Results showed that CBM had moderate to strong correlations with midyear assessments in reading and mathematics and both types of standardized tests across school districts. The data suggest that CBM can be one source of data that could be used to potentially identify those students likely to be successful or fail the statewide assessment measure.