CBM, CBA, CBE ..... HUH?

CBM’s, CBA’s, and CBE’s.  No there not new television stations. You might have heard these acronyms thrown around by educators but what do they really mean and how are they being used in the classroom?

CBM

CBM stands for curriculum based measurements.  CBM is an assessment tool characterized by certain attributes.  Those attributes are:

•       Alignment.  With CBM’s students are tested on the curriculum they are being taught.

•       Technically adequate which means that they have established reliability and validity. 

•       Criterion-referenced measures as opposed to norm-referenced measures. Criterion referenced measures are measures if a student has learned what was being taught while norm referenced measures compare the child being tested to those at their same age or grade level. (If you want a more in-dept explanation between these two measures refer back to my post on Monday, March 21,2011 titled The Big Match Up: Criterion Referenced Assessments VS. Norm Referenced Assessments.)

•       Standard Procedures are used.

•       Performance sampling.  Correct and incorrect behaviors on clearly defined tasks are counted. Ex. A CBM might tell you that the student reads a grade-level passage at 47 words correct per minute with no error.

•       Decision rules.  These are put in place to provide those who used the date with information about what it means when students score at different leves.

•       Repeated measures.  These can be used to determine progress and provide progress-monitoring data.

•       Efficient.  People can be trained in a short period of time to give the measures.

•       Summarized Efficiently.  Data can be summarized efficiently by using a wide variety of tools such as pencil and paper or web based data management systems.

CBM’s usually composed of a set of standard directions, a timing device, a set of materials, scoring rules, standards for judging performance, and record forms or charts.

CBE

CBE stands for curriculum based evaluations. Curriculum-Based Evaluations are best defined by Deno (1987) as "any set of measurement procedures that use direct observation and recording of a student’s performance in a local curriculum as a basis for gathering information to make instructional decisions" (in Shinn, 1989; p. 62).  CBE measures specific skills that are presently being taught in the classroom, usually in basic skills.

CBA

Curriculum-based assessment (CBA) is an approach to linking instruction with assessment. CBA has three purposes: (1) to determine eligibility, (2) to develop the goals for instruction, and (3) to evaluate the student's progress in the curriculum. CBA is useful because it:

•                Links curriculum and instruction.

•                Helps the teacher determine what to teach.

•                Can be administered frequently.

•                Is sensitive to short-term academic gains.

•                Assists in the evaluation of student progress and program evaluation.

•                Can be reliable and valid.

•                Assists in improving student achievement

Now that we’ve gone over all that information, how about a quick CBA to test what you have learned?!

1. CBA’s are used to link instruction with __________________.

2.CBM’s use _____________ referenced assessments.

3. CBE’s measure _________ __________ that are being currently being taught in the classroom.

Answers:

1) assessment

2) criterion

3) specific skills

Helpful Resources:

http://www.studentprogress.org/families.asp

http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/curriculum-based_evaluations