Sources of variance in curriculum‐based measures of silent reading

Abstract

AbstractCurriculum‐Based Measurement silent reading (CBM‐SR) items have been found to be reliable and valid for measuring reading comprehension skills This generalizability study reports the findings from administration of three CBM‐SR passages to fifth through eighth grade students in one school district. Using Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance (RMANOVA) procedures, the statistical probability of performance on the CBM‐SR task as a differential indicator of reading comprehension skill was found to be significant among students in different grade levels and between students who did and did not receive special education services. Follow‐up analyses were conducted using generalizability theory to estimate the amount of variance in CBM‐SR scores from individual score differences, grade levels, and special education status. The results indicated that on two of the passages, variability in CBM‐SR scores came primarily from grade level differences in scores on the tasks, while on the third passage, the differences were most attributable to individual differences in scores, regardless of grade level or special education services. Implications for the use of CBM‐SR items for routine assessment of students' reading skills are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 363–377, 2003.