Curriculum Based Measurement: Reading (a.k.a. Oral Reading Fluency)

Administration & Scoring RulesSt. Croix River Education DistrictMinnesota

CBM-R - What It Is•A quick assessment of students’ overall reading

skills▫Listen to a student read a passage for 1 minute and

count the number of words read correctly and the number of errors

•A test of reading fluency▫ Fluency = Speed + Accuracy + Expression▫ The ability to quickly and accurately apply letter-sound

correspondence to reading connected text.

•Grade level probes measuring end of year difficulty level▫1(w) to 8

CBM-R - How Used•Used as a screener of total reading skill 3x per

year with all students grades 1(W)-8▫Student performance on CBM-R validly predicts

performance on the upcoming MCA and other measures of total reading skill

•Used as a progress monitoring measure for students identified as at risk in reading▫May be administered weekly

• CBM-R is not a direct measure of comprehension, although performance on CBM-R and performance on direct measures of comprehension are strongly correlated

CBM-R - Administration

•MATERIALS▫Unnumbered copy of passage (student copy)▫Numbered copy of passage (examiner copy)▫Stopwatch▫Pen▫Score Recording Form

Directions1. Place the unnumbered copy in front of the student.2. Place the numbered copy in front of you but shielded

so the student cannot see what you record.3. Say these specific directions to the student for the

first passage:

“When I say ‘begin,’ start reading aloud at the top of the page. Read across the page (demonstrate). Try to read each word. If you come to a word you don’t know, I’ll tell it to you. Be sure to do your best reading”. (pause)

Directions (continued)4. Say “Begin” and start your stopwatch when you

hear the first word. If the student fails to say the first word of the passage after 3 seconds, tell them the word and mark it as incorrect, then start your stopwatch.

5. Follow along on your copy. Put a slash (/) through words read incorrectly.

6. If a student stops or struggles with a word for 3 seconds, tell the student the word and mark it as incorrect.

7. After 1-minute, place a bracket ( ] ) after the last word and say, “Stop.”

Helpful Scoring Hints

1. If students appear to understand the instructions following the administration of the first passage, the examiner need only point to the first word at the top of the subsequent passage saying “Begin.”

2. If you completely lose track of where the student is reading, discontinue the reading and begin another passage.

3. Score reading passages immediately after administration.

Speed Reading

•You may encounter some readers who appear to view R-CBM as a “speed reading test” (i.e., read the passage very fast and without expression). If this occurs, interrupt the student, saying

• “This is not a speed reading test. Begin again, and be sure to do your best reading.”

Scoring Rules: Discontinue & 3 Second• If the student does not read any words correctly in the

first row, discontinue the task and record a score of 0.• If a student hesitates or struggles with a word for 3

seconds, tell the student the word and mark the word as incorrect. If necessary, indicate for the student to continue with the next word.

STUDENT SCORING CORRECT/PASSAGE: SAYS: PROCEDURE: TOTAL WORDS:

I have a goldfish. “I have a… (3 seconds) I have a goldfish. 3/4 WRC

Correctly Read Words• Correctly Read Words are Pronounced

Correctly. A word must be pronounced correctly given the context of the sentence.

example: The word “r-e-a-d” must be pronounced “reed” when presented in the context of:

He will read the book WRC = 5not as:

“He will red the book.” WRC = 4

Omitted Words & Lines• Omitted Words. Omitted words are scored as incorrect.

example: Mario climbed the oak tree.. WRC = 5

read as:“Mario climbed the tree.” WRC = 4

• Omitted Lines. If a student skips a line, draw a line through all words on the line and mark 1 error▫Note this is a local rule which is different than the AIMSweb

standard rule!

Mispronounced Words• Mispronounced words. A word is scored as correct if it is

pronounced correctly in the context of the sentence. If the word is mispronounced in the context, it is scored as an error.

example: Dad read the paper.

read as:“Dad reed the paper.” 3/ 4 WRC

Self-Corrections• Self-corrections. A word is scored as correct if it is

initially mispronounced but the student self corrects within 3 seconds. Mark SC above the word and score as correct.

example: Dad read the paper.

read as:“Dad reed.. red the paper.”

scored as:Dad read the paper. 4/ 4 WRC

SC

Repeated Words•Repeated Words. Words that are repeated are

not scored as incorrect and are ignored in scoring.

example: Ted ran swiftly. WRC = 3

read as:“Ted ran...Ted ran swiftly.” WRC = 3

Articulation & Dialect• Articulation & Dialect. The student is not penalized for

imperfect pronunciation due to dialect, articulation, or second language interference.

example: They washed the car. WRC = 4

read as:“They warshed the car.” WRC = 4

Inserted Words• Inserted Words. Inserted words are ignored and not

counted as errors. The student also does not get additional credit for inserted words. If the student frequently inserts extra words, note the pattern at the bottom of the scoring page.

example: Sue was happy. WRC = 3

read as:“Sue was very happy.” WRC = 3

Hyphenated Words•Hyphenated Words. Hyphenated words count

as 2 words if both parts can stand alone as individual words. Hyphenated words count as one word if either part cannot stand alone as an individual word.

examples: number of wordsI asked Ben to re-sign the page. 7

or:We did push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups. 9

Word Order• Word Order. All the words that are read correctly but in

the wrong order are scored as incorrect.

example The ice cream man comes.

read as:The cream ice man comes. 3/5 WRC

Numerals• Numerals Numerals must be read correctly within the

context of the sentence.

examples: PASSAGE: STUDENT CORRECT WORDS/

SAYS: TOTAL WORDS

My father is 36. My father is thirty-six. 4/4My father is three six. 3/4

Abbreviations• Abbreviations. Abbreviations should be read in the way

you would normally pronounce the abbreviation in conversation. For example, TV could be read as “teevee” or “television” but Mr. Would be read as “mister.”

example: Dr. Adams received a promotion.

should be read as:“Doctor Adams received a promotion.” 5/5 WRC

not as:“D-R Adams received a promotion.” 4/5 WRC

Hesitations• Hesitations. When a student hesitates or fails to

correctly pronounce a word within 3 seconds, the student is told the word and an error is scored.

example: Mark saw an elephant. WRC = 4

read as:“Mark saw an...(sec 3).” WRC = 3

or read as:Mark saw an ell-ee...(3 sec)” WRC = 3

Scoring Benchmark Assessments: Taking the Median•For benchmarking, students read 3 passages,

and the median score is reported•Median equals the middle score of the three that

are collected.▫Take the middle score of words read correct▫Take the middle score of the errors

Example: 56/1 51/5 59/3

The Median•Equals the middle score of the three that are

collected.▫Take the middle score of words read correct▫Take the middle score of the errors

Example: 56/1 51/5 59/3

Median score = 56/3

Beyond Fluency

•A reading sample provides more than just an index of how ‘fluent’ a student is at reading………

Qualitative Features of Good Reading1. Is highly fluent (speed and accuracy)?2. Uses effective strategies to decode words?

effective word attack context

3. Adjust pacing (i.e., slows down and speeds up according to level of text difficulty)?

of word(s) syntax (word order) semantics (word meaning)

Qualitative Features of Good Reading4. Attends to prosodic features?

inflection (pause, voice goes up and down) reads with expression punctuation (commas, exclamation points, etc.) predicts level of expression according to syntax

5. Possesses prediction-orientation? seems to look ahead when reading reads at a sentence or paragraph level

Qualitative Features of Good Reading6. Self-monitors what she/he is reading?

Self-corrects if makes meaning distortion errors

7. Makes only meaning preservation errors? more errors that preserve meaning (e.g., “house”

for “home”) fewer meaning distortion errors (e.g., “mouse” for

“house.”)

8. Automaticity on reread words. words that appear throughout text are read

automatically (e.g., become “sight words”)

Practice Exercise 1: Let’s Score

This student read 72 WRC/8 Errors

Practice Exercise 1: Answer Key

Practice Exercise 2: Let’s Score

This student read 96 WRC/4 Errors

Practice Exercise 2: Answer Key

Practice Exercise 3: Let’s Score

This student read 141 WRC/2 Errors

Practice Exercise 3: Answer Key

Practice Exercise 4: Let’s Score

This student read 86 WRC/5 Errors

Practice Exercise 4: Answer Key