Define CBM and explain the advantages it has over summative evaluations

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Define CBM and explain the advantages it has over summative evaluations.

Answers should include the following definition: curriculum-based measurement isa formative evaluation involving frequent assessment of student progress in learning the objectives that make up the curriculum in which a student is participating.

advantages
• valid and reliable
• easy to administer
• cost- and time-efficient
• sensitive to small, incremental changes in student performance over time
• designed to prevent failure
• Entails multiple, ongoing measures of student performance over time and visual inspection of graphed student data as the basis for instructional decision making

A CBM is a formative evaluation, meaning it provides information on student learning as instruction takes place over time. A summative evaluation is used after instruction has been completed and so cannot be used to inform instruction; instruction is done at that point. Examples of summative evaluations are end-of-unit tests, final exams, and term papers. The use of formative evaluations allows teachers to adjust instruction on an ongoing basis. Waiting until the end of a unit or school year to evaluate students does not allow teachers to adjust instruction to promote the learning of the objectives; it is too late at the end. An example of a CBM is DIBELS, a formative evaluation used with reading and pre-reading skills. Research shows that students who master the benchmark goals of DIBELS are more than 80% likely to become proficient readers.