easyCBM+Main+Page

=include component="pageList" hideInternal="true" limit="10" include component="tagCloud" = =Update News= Many of you may have realized EasyCBM has been updated. Those updates will soon be reflected on this Wiki. Check back soon for more info!

=What Is EasyCBM® = toc EasyCBM® was designed by researchers at the University of Oregon as an integral part of an RTI (Response to Intervention) model. From the start, developers have emphasized the goal of the system: to help facilitate good instructional decision-making. This project began with a grant from the federal Office of Special Education Programs in 2006, but it has continued to expand with the help of our school district partners across the state of Oregon and – more recently – across the United States. In the fall of 2009, there were over 20,000 registered users on the site, spread out across the 50 states. By September of 2010, this number had grown to over 68,000, representing over half a million students.

The assessments on the system are what is known as curriculum-based measures (CBMs). CBMs are standardized measures that sample from a year’s worth of curriculum to assess the degree to which students have mastered the skills and knowledge deemed critical at each grade level. The CBMs on the easyCBM® system are often referred to as ‘next-generation CBMs’ because we used an advanced form of statistics, Item Response Theory (IRT) during measurement development to increase the consistency of the alternate forms of each measure type and increase the sensitivity of the measures to monitor growth. At each grade level, alternate forms of each measure type are designed to be of equivalent difficulty, so as teachers monitor student progress over time, changes in score reflect changes in student skill rather than changes in the test forms.

The **reading tests** include measures of Alphabetic Principle (Phoneme Segmenting, Letter Names), Phonics (Letter Sounds), Fluency (Word Reading Fluency, Passage Reading Fluency), Vocabulary, and Comprehension (Multiple Choice Reading Comprehension). These measures are based on the “Big Five” from the National Reading Panel.

The **math tests** are based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Focal Point Standards in Mathematics and include three test types per grade (aligned with the NCTM Curriculum Focal Points for each grade level). Each of the math tests is comprised of 16 items (though the screening measure on the district version has 45 items).

Specific Information about the Math Tests
The math tests on easyCBM® were developed to assess students’ mastery of the knowledge and skills outlined in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Focal Point Standards. They were designed to focus more on students’ conceptual understanding than basic computational skills. These math items were under development for two years. They were written by teachers with both general education and special education teachers and have been piloted across the country with students from a variety of backgrounds. They have undergone review by researchers at the University of Oregon and have been checked carefully for typographical errors. Based on data from the 2009/2010 school year, the first year in which the math tests used, we revised the benchmark assessments. As a result, the 2010/2011 version of the math benchmark assessments is slightly shorter than the original version.

Like all measures on easyCBM®, alternate forms of each math test were designed to be of equivalent difficulty, so teachers can progress monitor students from the initial screening assessments, through their progress monitoring tests every month throughout the year, comparing progress to subsequent screening assessments (winter and spring).

During the screening test window, students take sub-tests covering all three focal point standards from their grade level. In between the benchmark testing windows, teachers can select a single focal point standard to use for monitoring progress or can draw from across the different focal points at that grade level. The math tests from a given focal point should be used no more than once every 3 weeks for monitoring progress. If teachers want to monitor progress weekly, they need to cycle through the different focal points, so each one gets tested every 3 weeks.

Items on the math progress monitoring tests increase in difficulty from Item 1 through Item 16, with one exception. On every test, Item #5 is actually the most difficult item (based on our pilot studies of the items). Item #16 is actually the fifth-easiest item. We made the Item 5/Item 16 substitution on each form to provide teachers with additional information. If students get Item 6, 7, and 8 correct but misses Item 16, it is likely that they simply stopped trying by the end of the test, because the last item should be easier than the items that come before it.

For students in Kindergarten and First Grade, the math items that have words in the question itself come with a ‘read aloud’ option. Students can click on a speaker icon and have the math item read aloud to them. For this reason, it is important that Kindergarten and First Grade students have headphones available in the computer lab when testing. = = =Choosing the Right Product= We have two different versions of easyCBM®: one designed for individual teacher use and the other for school- or district-wide adoption.

The Teacher version is limited to progress monitoring measures, under the assumption that teachers will have access to some other form of screening information that will enable them to identify students most in need of progress monitoring.

The District version has both screening as well as progress monitoring measures. The screening measures are designed for use three times per year (fall, winter, spring) and are limited to ongrade-level testing. The progress monitoring measures are designed for more frequent use – every month (Math and Reading Comprehension), every two weeks (Word and Passage Reading Fluency), or every week (Phoneme Segmenting, Letter Names, and Letter Sounds). For progress monitoring, teachers are encouraged to select the single measure type and difficulty (grade level) that will be most sensitive to showing growth for a particular student.



=System Requirements=
 * Windows:** Firefox 1.5+ or Internet Explorer 6.0+
 * Mac:** Safari 1.2+ or Firefox 1.5+
 * JavaScript Enabled
 * PDF Viewer (Acrobat Reader)
 * Flash (used in training section, and K/1 online math tests for read aloud)
 * Spreadsheet program (only for viewing CSV exports of student scores)

Note: Some districts have network filters or firewall settings that block certain file types. You'll want to make sure that .flv files (for the training section) and .mp3 files (for the read-aloud option on K and 1 math tests) coming from easycbm.com do not get blocked. = = =Getting Started= 1. Teachers must set up a free account at []. When setting up your account use a name that will be recognizable to your students, as this is how they will associate with you.

Just fill in and submit the form and your account will be automatically created. You can change any of this information later, if you'd like. Once you complete this form, your password will be sent to your email address. All information is securely encrypted and no information about users or their students is shared with anyone. Username and email are the only fields required.

2. After establishing your easyCBM account, it’s time to add your students. Starting from the Home tab, click on the “Students” tab. Adding students to your account can be done by either entering names one at a time or uploading a roster.

To add students individually, go down to the “Students” section and click on the “Add Student” button. A popup window entitled ‘Student Record’ will appear. Add the student information and click “Ok”

To enter multiple students at once, return to the “Students” tab and click on the "uploading your class roster" link located in the paragraph under ‘Managing your Students’. A window will appear with instructions on how to upload your class roster.

3. Group students

Once students have been added to your account, it’s time to assign them into groups. Ideally, you should only put students into the same group if you want all of them to take the same measures. This means that if you have a particular student who is the only one to whom you want to assign certain measures, then he/she should be alone in a unique group. You can create as many groups as you'd like, and a single student can be in multiple groups at the same time. The grouping feature affects how test scores are clustered in the **Groups** screen of the **Reports** page.
 * Grouping Students for Testing**

Sometimes, it is helpful to have subsets of your students grouped together so you can see how the whole group is doing when looking at the Group reports. When teachers work with multiple classes throughout the day or have students assigned to different levels of tiered instruction, this feature is particularly relevant.

Students can be put into groups clicking on the "Students" tab. Create a new group by clicking the Add Group button, then assign students to the selected group by marking their corresponding check boxes.

= Training = This multimedia module provides training on the easyCBM assessment system and proficiency exams for you to check your understanding. Complete the training section first before proceeding to the proficiency exams. Click on the link to get started [].

=Administering and Scoring the One-on-One Measures= =Administering Online Measures= =Where to Begin= = Assessment Frequency = =Accessing Test Reports= = = =FAQ about easyCBM= 1. **What sort of technical adequacy do the CBM measures in this system have?** The Progress Monitoring measures offered through easyCBM have been designed using the most modern approaches to designing, testing, and revising student assessments. Detailed information about the design considerations and technical adequacy of each of the measures can be found in the individual Technical Reports related to each type of measure. Please click on the link BRT website - Publications / Technical Reports to access our library of Technical Reports We will continue to add additional reports as we complete further studies.

2. **What are your assessments based on?** The math assessments available on easyCBM are based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum Focal Point Standards in Mathematics. In each grade, K - 8, you'll find a total of 30 progress monitoring measures: 10 aligned to each of the 3 main Focal Point standards for each grade level.

The reading assessments available on the system are based on the 'Big Five' constructs of reading reported in the 2000 National Reading Panel report.

3. **How much does your system cost?** The regular easyCBM progress monitoring assessment system (this website) is available for **free**, for teachers to use world-wide. Small schools may find that this system suits their needs just fine. However, in response to repeated requests from larger schools and districts looking for a system that will better fit with their district data use, we have developed an alternate version of easyCBM, called District easyCBM, that offers extended features for a small cost.

In August 2009, we released this commercial version with additional features that make it more appropriate for school- or district-wide adoption. These features include different levels of user access (district administrator, building administrator, specialist assigned to more than one classroom, individual classroom teacher), automated student roster syncing, the ability to control the percentile ranks associated with the different levels of performance on the student graphs, classroom, building, and district-level reports, and a complete battery of screening / benchmark as well as progress monitoring assessments in reading and mathematics, grades K-8.

If you are interested in learning more about this commercial District easyCBM, please e-mail us at support@easycbm.com so we can send you more information.

=Technical questions related to the use of the website= 1. **What if I forget my password?** Please click on the " [|Reset your Password] " link on the login page of easyCBM.com. You will be asked to enter your Username. An email will be sent to the account you used when you first registered for the system to make sure you want to change your password (this feature prevents others from changing your password without telling you). Once you have confirmed that you want your password changed, a new temporary password will be sent to you via email. You can use this temporary password to log in and then re-set the password using the "Account" tab at the upper right hand side of your screen.

2. **Where's my login email?** The easyCBM system automatically creates and sends an email to the email address specified during account creation. In most cases users, will receive this email within a few minutes. In some cases, a spam filter may block this email. If an hour has passed and you have still not received the login email, please check your spam filter for the message. If this fails, set your filter to allow emails from: accounts@easycbm.com and use the ' [|reset your password] ' link.

3. **What web browser should I use for the best performance?** The easyCBM system has been engineered to provide high quality student progress monitoring while at the same time reducing teacher workload. Because there are many small differences between web browsers, we have carefully selected the ones that best accomplish our goals - delivering consistent high quality and ease of use. In some cases, users might have to download a new browser. We feel this inconvenience will be well rewarded: We can provide better support with a known browser. Although the easyCBM website will open with many browsers, it will only work properly using one of the [|recommended browsers].

4. **Why can't I simply get a booklet containing all the possible tests my students might be taking this year?** Although on the surface, it might sound like a good idea to have a single booklet with all possible test forms in it, the sheer number of tests makes this unworkable. To print out a single copy of each of the measures available on easyCBM would take over 2800 pages of paper.

One final reason for not printing out entire paper versions of the assessments available on easyCBM is that we make revisions to the measures periodically, as we get additional information about how to improve them. If you depend on already-printed measures, you may find that you are no longer up-to-date with the latest enhancements.

5. **How do I "Group" my students?** Sometimes, it is helpful to have sub-sets of your students grouped together so you can see how the whole group is doing when looking at the Group reports. When teachers work with multiple classes throughout the day or have students assigned to different levels of tiered instruction, this feature is particularly relevant.

Students can be put into groups using the "Students" section of easyCBM. Create a new group by clicking the Add Group button, then assign students to that group by marking their corresponding checkboxes.

Ideally, you should only put students into the same group if you want all of them to take the same measures. This means that if you have a particular student who is the only one to whom you want to assign certain measures, then she should be alone in a unique group. You can create as many groups as you'd like, and a single student can be in multiple groups at the same time. The grouping feature affects how the data are clustered in the Groups screen of the Reports page.

6. **How can I provide feedback about this system?** Send all feedback to the support@easycbm.com email address. We are especially interested in hearing about the features on the system you like (so we don't change them on you!) and the features on the system you find problematic (so we can change them for you).