Participants will review both formal and informal means in which teachers progress monitor students’ performance related to both the grade-level standards and individual student goals in this session. Secondly, participants will review concepts tied to systematic methods for collecting and monitoring students’ progress towards specific reading goals. Finally, participants will begin thinking about and exploring which curriculum-based measure (CBM) might work best in documenting the focus group of students as they progress towards their learning outcomes.

Indicators targeted: 4.12, 5.1

Materials

• RTI Manual (Section 2: Progress Monitoring; pgs. 2.1 - 2.4)
• Activity 3.2.1: Is Assessment More than Just a Test?
• Activity 3.2.2: Reflect and Next Steps for Review of Progress Monitoring
• Progress Monitoring with DIBELS 8th Edition (see pgs. 94 – 98 in the Administration & Scoring Guide and Progress Monitoring Materials (for participants without access to another progress monitoring tool within their county))
  • Chapter 4: Progress Monitoring with DIBELS 8th Edition (pgs. 94 – 98)
  • Modeling ORF Progress Monitoring Teacher Resources – ORF 5.10: “The Barge”
  • Modeling ORF Student Booklet – ORF 5.10: “The Barge”
  • Progress Monitoring Simulated Experience - Student Directions for “The Barge”
  • Miscue Analysis Worksheet Results
    • Facilitator copy
    • Participant copy
  • PM Grade 5 ORF Simulated Scoring

Additional Materials to Consider

• Using CBM for Progress Monitoring in Reading (Introduction to Curriculum-Based Measurement; pgs. 1 – 2)
• NCRTI Briefs #1 – 4:
  • Brief #1: Common Progress Monitoring Omissions: Planning and Practice
  • Brief #2: Common Progress Monitoring Omissions: Missing Goal and Goal Line
  • Brief #3: Common Progress Monitoring Omissions: Making Instructional Decisions
  • Brief #4: Common Progress Monitoring Omissions: Reporting Information to Parents

Define Session Goals

The educator will…

• Review the purposes of informal and formal assessment.
• Review the definition and purpose of progress monitoring students, especially students in Tier II instruction.
• Identify appropriate reading progress monitoring probes or reading curriculum-based measures (CBMs), based on the targeted reading skills identified from preassessment data.

Review Concepts of Assessment and Progress Monitoring

1. Have educators review key concepts surrounding informal and formal assessment.

Have participants take five minutes to complete Activity 3.2.1: Is Assessment More than Just a Test. In this activity, participants will work either individually or with an elbow partner, to identify the two categories (i.e., informal and formal) of assessments and the various types of assessments that fall within each category (i.e., rubrics, diagnostic, cloze, achievement, etc.) After 5 – 6 minutes, allow participants to share some of their responses with the whole group.

Assessment is the “process of gathering data in order to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of student learning, as by observation, testing, interviews, etc.” (Harris & Hodges, 1995, p. 12). This process can take place through both formal and informal means. While informal assessments are not standardized, they do yield helpful information for the classroom teacher as s/he reviews observations of student reading performance through the use of anecdotal notes, analytic and holistic rubrics and their corresponding scores, miscue analysis, etc. Formal assessments are often standardized tests or assessment procedures that are administered under controlled circumstances and many times, yield results that are used to compare groups of students’ reading performances.

2. Have participants review key concepts surrounding progress monitoring and reading probes.

Not only do educators need to collect assessment data through informal and formal assessments, but they also need to have systematic ways in which they can gather and gauge student reading performance as it relates to both student’s individual goals and of their overall progress towards mastery of the standards, especially when students are not making gains towards learning goals. This concept is known as progress monitoring:

• “Progress monitoring is a collection of data that are used to determine the impact of instruction and intervention over a certain period of time” (Salvia et al., 2017, p. 151).
• “School personnel assess students for the purpose of making two kinds of progress monitoring decisions: (1) Is the student making adequate progress toward individual goals? And (2) Is the student making adequate progress toward common core standards or specified state standards?” (Salvia et al., 2017, p. 16).
• “We consider more systematic approaches to be the most helpful. Here we highlight several qualities of effective progress monitoring tools:
  • Involve direct measurement of basic skills.
  • Include a representative sampling of knowledge and skills expected to be learned across the selected time period.
  • Use a probe that can be administered, scored, and interpreted quickly and frequently.
  • Use tools that are sensitive to change over time” (Salvia et al., 2017, pp. 151 – 153).

Take a few minutes to read RTI Manual (Section 2: Progress Monitoring; pgs. 2.1 - 2.4). Then, spend some time, either individually, or with an elbow partner, identifying (or reviewing) the following key concepts:

• The three purposes for progress monitoring students
• Characteristics that should be included in progress monitoring
• The differences in how progress monitoring looks in Tier I instruction vs. Tiers II and III
• The role of CBMS (see also Using CBM for Progress Monitoring in Reading [Introduction to Curriculum-Based Measurement; pgs. 1 – 2] for additional information if needed)

3. Model how to administer and score of the DIBELS 8th Edition progress monitoring CBMs.

Before modeling how to administer and score one of the progress monitoring CBMs, ask one of the participants to volunteer as a fifth-grade student, Phillip Dawson, completing one round of progress monitoring. Once the participant has been selected, the facilitator will hand him/her the following resources:

• Modeling ORF Student Booklet – ORF 5.10: “The Barge”
• Progress Monitoring Simulated Experience - Student Directions for “The Barge”

The student would typically not have access to the Progress Monitoring Simulated Experience – Student Directions for “The Barge,” but because this is a simulated experience, the participant volunteer needs to respond in a certain manner for administration and scoring purposes.

The facilitator will then model how to administer one round of progress monitoring with the ORF CBM for fifth grade, using the story of the “The Barge.” While the facilitator is administering the passage, the other participants will observe the administration and practice noting the fifth-grade student’s responses on their copies of the following:

• Modeling ORF Progress Monitoring Teacher Resources – ORF 5.10: “The Barge.” Additionally, the participants will score the students.
• PM Grade 5 ORF Simulated Scoring
• Miscue Analysis Worksheet

After the ORF simulation has been completed, the participants will discuss some of their observations with the whole group before completing a secondary round of ORF administration and observation with a peer. Possible observation notes on the student performance may include, but are not limited to:

Collaborate

Allow participants to get with another person to form a pair. Each partner within the pair will decide which reading CBM they would like to practice administering with their peer responding how a student in their classroom who is completing the screener might typically respond. It may be important to remind each participant that their “student” should most likely reflect similar reading behaviors as one of the students who was identified within their specific focus group.

If participants do not have access to an additional screener used by their county to practice in the session today, the facilitator will either provide hard copies of DIBELS 8th Edition progress monitoring materials, including both the Scoring Booklet and the Student materials for the corresponding grade level of the teacher, or allow the educator to use his/her own grade level copies to practice with.

Allow 20 minutes for educators to practice administering the progress monitoring reading CBMs with their partners, alternating between test examiner and student respondent. Then, ask for volunteers to share a few of their observations about the administration and scoring process. It is possible that participants may not complete this task in its entirety during the 20 minutes. Note: Continued observations may take place after this session has ended.

Reflect and Next Steps

Take five minutes to reflect on the following questions at the top of Activity 3.2.2: Reflect and Next Steps for Review of Progress Monitoring:

1. Which progress monitoring instrument will you use with your focus group? Knowing your students and the types of results the instrument should yield, why did you select this particular screening tool? Will it provide enough evidence about specific sets of reading behaviors you hope to investigate?
2. Are there multiple reading subskills this CBM targets? If so, which subtests do you plan to incorporate with your focus group of students? What is your rationale for targeting these subskills?

Next Steps:
After today’s session, participants will progress monitor each student in their focus group after the second, fourth, and sixth small group lesson. As they administer each screener, participants will need to find a way to organize and display their student information and preassessment data results in a table or chart that can be easily interpreted. A copy of this assessment data will be compiled in Part C of the Data-Based Instruction Plan.