Got Probes?

The following information was obtained from http://www.interventioncentral.org/

Information was written by Jim Wright, a school psychologist and school administrator from Central New York.

Curriculum-based measurement, or CBM, is a method of monitoring student educational progress through direct assessment of academic skills. CBM can be used to measure basic skills in reading, mathematics, spelling, and written expression. It can also be used to monitor readiness skills. When using CBM, the instructor gives the student brief, timed samples, or "probes," made up of academic material taken from the child's school curriculum.

Some of the advantages of using CBM are:

Good overlap with curriculum
Because CBM probes are made up of materials taken from the local
curriculum, there is an appropriate overlap between classroom instruction and the
testing materials used. In effect, CBM allows the teacher to better test what is being
taught.

Quick to administer
CBM probes are quick to administer. For example, to obtain a single CBM
reading fluency measure, the instructor asks the student to read aloud for 3 minutes.
CBM measures in math, writing, and spelling are also quite brief.

Can be given often
CBM probes can be given repeatedly in a short span of time. In fact, CBM
probes can be given frequently, even daily if desired. The resulting information can
then be graphed to demonstrate student progress.

Sensitive to short-term gain in academic skills
Unlike many norm-referenced tests, CBM has been found to be sensitive to
short-term student gains. In fact, CBM is so useful a measure of student academic
progress that teachers employing it can often determine in as short a span as severalweeks whether a student is making appropriate gains in school skills.

Below is a wonderful resource which links you to several probes which can be created quickly:

http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/tools/cbaprobe/cba.php

Enjoy! We hope this information is helpful in teaching and assessing your students.