Motivated by the multiple-measures clause of recent federal policy regarding student eligibility for alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MASs), this study examined how scores or combinations of scores from a diverse set of assessments predicted students' end-of-year proficiency status on statewide…

We evaluated the technical adequacy of oral reading fluency (ORF) probes in which 1,472 middle school students with and without reading difficulties read fluency probes for 60 s versus reading the full passage. Results suggested that the reliability of 60-s probes (rs = 0.75) was not substantively different than full passage probes (rs = 0.77)…

Current legislation encourages schools to educate students with disabilities (SWDs) in general education settings to the greatest extent appropriate. However, it is unclear whether inclusion in general education settings provides SWDs a sufficient opportunity to learn the academic content assessed by accountability measures. This initial study was…

This study focused on evaluating the temporal stability of self-reported and teacher-reported perceptions of students' social and emotional skills and assets. We used a test-retest reliability procedure over repeated administrations of the child, adolescent, and teacher versions of the "Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales". Middle school…

The reliability and validity of three curriculum-based measures as indicators of learning English as a foreign language were examined. Participants were 260 Dutch students in Grades 8 and 9 who were receiving English-language instruction. Predictor measures were maze-selection, Dutch-to-English word translation, and English-to-Dutch word…

This article reports the results of a study examining the utility of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in algebra for predicting performance on a state math assessment and informing instructional placement decisions for students in seventh, eighth, and tenth grades. Students completed six Basic Skills algebra probes across different time…

We reported findings of an exploratory validation study of a revised universal screening instrument: the Student Risk Screening Scale--Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE) for use with middle school students. Tested initially for use with elementary-age students, the SRSS-IE was adapted to include seven additional items reflecting…

Oral reading tasks and Maze reading tasks are often used interchangeably to assess the level and rate of reading skill development. This study examined the concurrent validity of growth estimates derived from "Curriculum-Based Measurement of Oral Reading" (CBM-R) and "Maze Reading" (CBM-mR). Participants were 1,528 students from Grades 3 to 8.…

Maze tasks have appealing properties as progress-monitoring tools, but there is a need for a thorough examination of the psychometric properties of Maze tasks among middle school students. We evaluated form effects, reliability, validity, and practice effects of Maze among students in Grades 6 through 8. We administered the same (familiar) and…

The relation between fidelity of implementation and student outcomes in a computer-based middle school mathematics curriculum was measured empirically. Participants included 485 students and 23 teachers from 11 public middle schools across seven states. Implementation fidelity was defined using two constructs: fidelity to structure and fidelity to…

This article reviews the "Developmental Reading Assessment--Second Edition" (DRA2), a teacher-administered assessment that identifies students' instructional level, along with their strengths and weaknesses in reading. Once teachers calculate and interpret scores, the data can purportedly be used to inform, and possibly individualize, instruction.…

Type and quality of revisions made by students between first and final drafts of a state writing test were scored using a revision taxonomy. Scorers categorized revisions first by unit (e.g., word, phrase, sentence), and then by type (e.g., addition, substitution, spelling). They then evaluated the impact of each revision on the readability of the…

Research support for providing a read-aloud accommodation (i.e., having an individual read test items and directions aloud) to students with disabilities has been somewhat limited, particularly when merely examining effects of the accommodation on overall test scores for general groups of students with disabilities. We examined data on…

The provision for allowing local education agencies to use an assessment of a student's response to intervention (RTI) in lieu of a consideration of an ability--achievement discrepancy has been a controversial aspect of the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. To address issues that have arisen about RTI, a series of…

Testing accommodations used in students' IEPs or recommended by classroom teachers were investigated. Three domains of testing accommodations were examined; (a) accommodations recommended through the IEP process, (b) accommodations recommended by the teacher, and (c) accommodations provided in the testing sessions, to explore factors that…