CBM with goal setting: impacting students' understanding of reading goals.

CBM with goal setting: impacting students' understanding of reading goals. This pilot study investigated if goal setting with curriculum-basedmeasurement Curriculum-based measurement, or CBM, is an assessment method used in schools to monitor student progress by directly assessing basic academic skills in reading, spelling, writing, and mathematics. (CBM CBM Commodore Business MachinesCBM Coalbed MethaneCBM Christoffel BlindenmissionCBM Condition Based MaintenanceCBM Confidence-Building MeasuresCBM Curriculum Based Measurement (education)CBM Cubic Meter ) was effective in increasing student awareness of goalknowledge and if students could set realistic daily reading goals.Nineteen 6th and 7th grade students with learning disabilitiesparticipated in a goal setting treatment group or a control group.During the intervention A procedure used in a lawsuit by which the court allows a third person who was not originally a party to the suit to become a party, by joining with either the plaintiff or the defendant. period, all students completed computerized computerizedadapted for analysis, storage and retrieval on a computer.computerized axial tomographysee computed tomography. CBMassessments. For pre- pre-word element [L.], before (in time or space). pre-pref.1. Earlier; before; prior to: prenatal.2. and posttesting, students completed measures ofgoal knowledge. During posttesting more students in the goal settinggroup were able to specifically state goals: however, students in thegoal setting condition had difficulty setting realistic daily CBM goals.**********Students with learning disabilities benefit from setting learningand behavior goals, yet they often have difficulty setting realisticgoals (Graham & Harris Harris,Scotland: see Lewis and Harris. , 1989) and accurately self-evaluating theiracademic skills (Stone & May, 2002). Curriculum-based measurement(CBM) may be one instrument to help students' understand theiracademic goals and progress. CBM refers to a systematic, standardized standardizedpertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures.standardized morbidity ratesee morbidity rate.standardized mortality ratesee mortality rate. ,reliable procedure for documenting a student's progress in reading,mathematics, spelling, or written language (Deno, 1985, Deno, 1989) Deno(2003) reported many uses of CBM such as predicting performance onimportant criteria, enhancing teacher instructional planning, developingnorms, increasing ease of communication, screening to identify studentsacademically at risk, recommending and evaluating inclusion and severalother purposes. In the area of increasing the ease of communication,research has shown the effectiveness of CBM with assisting students tounderstand and accurately state reading goals (Fuchs Fuchs? , Klaus Emil Julius 1911-1988.German-born physicist who worked on the development of the atomic bomb in Britain and the United States and was imprisoned (1950-1959) for passing scientific secrets to the Soviet Union.Noun 1. , Deno, &Mirkin, 1984).Student goal setting appears to fit very well with CBM as CBMinvolves setting daily and long-term goals Long-term goalsFinancial goals expected to be accomplished in five years or longer. . Students who participate ingoal setting may increase their performance (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Deno,1985; Johnson, Graham, & Harris, 1997). Studies of goal setting andCBM have found that students have increased knowledge of goals (Fuchs,Butterworth, & Fuchs, 1989a) and respond better to self-set goals asopposed to teacher-set goals (Fuchs, Bahr, & Rieth, 1989), andrespond with more effort to task-focused goals (Fuchs, Fuchs, Karnes Karnes is the name of several places: Norway Karnes (Norway), a town near Lyngen United States Karnes City, Texas Karnes County, Texas ,Hamlett, Katzaroff & Dutka, 1997a).Although CBM is an alternative assessment that has proven to beeffective in monitoring students' ongoing progress in basic skills(Deno, 1985), the effects of student involvement during theseassessments needs further investigation. The active involvement ofstudents in the assessment procedure is an area that is oftenoverlooked. Goal setting during CBM is an area that might be beneficialto students for the following reason: For students to have anunderstanding of their academic progress, they need to understand theirreading goals and be able to work with their teachers to determine ifthey are making progress. Although proximal proximal/prox��i��mal/ (-mil) nearest to a point of reference, as to a center or median line or to the point of attachment or origin. prox��i��maladj. or daily student goalsetting is a possible feature of CBM, CBM usually involves teacherssetting end-of-year goals and connecting the student's baseline The horizontal line to which the bottoms of lowercase characters (without descenders) are aligned. See typeface. baseline - released version performance to the end-of-year goal. The goal line or aim line visuallyprovides daily goals for each time the student is assessed. Students maybe aware of their proximal goals by looking at their graphs; however,training students on goal setting procedures is often not part of theCBM routine.Although CBM and student goal setting appear to fit together well,few studies have examined the impact that student goal setting has onCBM performance. Fuchs, et al. (1997a) found that elementary studentswho were low achieving chose more challenging goals and increased theireffort. This study found that only students who were low achievingwithout learning disabilities showed greater mathematics learning.Students with learning disabilities did not show the same increase inlearning.The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effectiveness ofgoal setting with CBM on increasing students' understanding oftheir reading goals. The ability of middle school students to setrealistic goals for CBM reading assessments was also examined forstudents who participated in the goal setting group. This study exploredhow these procedures could be implemented with middle school studentsand practical suggestions for future application are given. Limitationsof the present study and future research directions are discussed.MethodParticipantsTeachers. Four special education teachers who taught language arts language artspl.n.The subjects, including reading, spelling, and composition, aimed at developing reading and writing skills, usually taught in elementary and secondary school. in a special education setting from two suburban middle schools in alarge Midwestern Mid��west? or Middle WestA region of the north-central United States around the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi Valley. It is generally considered to include Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and metropolitan area participated in this investigation.The two middle schools had enrollments of 874 and 896. Teachers fromeach school were randomly assigned as��sign?tr.v. as��signed, as��sign��ing, as��signs1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection.2. to one of two conitions: CBM withgoal setting or the control group. Teachers at the second middle schoolwere matched in order to have one sixth and one seventh grade teacher ineach treatment group. The two teachers in the Goal Setting condition hada mean of 9.5 years (SD = 0.71) of special education teaching experienceand the two teachers in the Control Group had a mean of 9.5 years (SD =9.2).Students. Participants in the study were 19 sixth (n = 10) andseventh (n = 9) grade students who had met the following stepwise stepwiseincremental; additional information is added at each step.stepwise multiple regressionused when a large number of possible explanatory variables are available and there is difficulty interpreting the partial regression criteria: a) identified as having a learning disability by their localschool district, b) Intelligence Quotient intelligence quotientn. Abbr. IQAn index of measured intelligence expressed as the ratio of tested mental age to chronological age, multiplied by 100. (IQ) scores between 80 and 120on an intelligence test given by a school psychologist psy��chol��o��gistn.A person trained and educated to perform psychological research, testing, and therapy.psychologist, c) specialeducation language arts classroom placement, and d) an absence of avisual or hearing impairment hearing impairmentn.A reduction or defect in the ability to perceive sound. . A series oft-tests revealed no significantdifferences between treatment groups with respect to students' (a)chronological age chron��o��log��i��cal agen. Abbr. CAThe number of years a person has lived, used especially in psychometrics as a standard against which certain variables, such as behavior and intelligence, are measured. , t (17) = 0.31, p= .76, (b) IQ, t (17) = 0.78, p =.44, and (c) broad reading standard scores, t (17) = 0.19, p = .85. Achi square chi square (kī),n a nonparametric statistic used with discrete data in the form of frequency count (nominal data) or percentages or proportions that can be reduced to frequencies. test revealed no significant difference between treatmentgroups with respect to students' gender, [chi square] (1, N = 19) =1.80, p = .18. A chi square test revealed no significance betweentreatment groups and student grade level, [chi square] (1, N = 19) =.05, p = .82. Table 1 provides student characteristics by experimentalcondition.Instrumentation instrumentation,in music: see orchestra and orchestration. instrumentationIn technology, the development and use of precise measuring, analysis, and control equipment. CBM. Teachers in both conditions employed CBM to track theirstudents' progress toward reading goals for 7 weeks. During thestudy all students were assessed using the computerized maze maze,detail of landscape gardening based on the Greek labyrinth, consisting of intricate paths or alleys lined with high hedges and having a center and exit difficult to find. It was a prominent feature in the formal English gardens of the 17th and 18th cent. CBM twiceweekly. These assessments took approximately 10 minutes per week perchild. CBM monitoring consisted of goal selection and ongoingmeasurement of the goal material. The computerized CBM procedure,Monitoring Basic Skills Progress: Basic Reading (Fuchs, Hamlett, &Fuchs, 1997b) was used to document ongoing progress in reading. As CBMwas new to all of the teacher participants in this study, teachers wereinstructed not to make instructional decisions based on the informationgained through CBM. Teachers were instructed on how to make educationaldecisions based upon CBM results upon the conclusion of this study.Student Interview. The student interview assessed students'awareness of individual reading goals. Students in both experimentalconditions were asked twelve questions modified from the StudentAwareness of Goals and Progress Interview (SAGPI; Fuchs et al., 1989a)that indicated his or her awareness of individual reading goals.Students' answers to the interview questions required"yes", "no" or "'don't know"responses for seven of the items, three items provided continuous data,and two items provided categorical data categorical datadata relating to category such as qualitative data, e.g. dog, cat, female. It may be nominal when a name is used, e.g. location, breed, or ordinal when a range of categories is used, e.g. calf, yearling, cow. . Categorical That which is unqualified or unconditional.A categorical imperative is a rule, command, or moral obligation that is absolutely and universally binding.Categorical is also used to describe programs limited to or designed for certain classes of people. questions includeditems such as "Does your teacher have a graph or record of how wellyou are doing in reading?" and "Can you tell whether you areimproving in reading by your grades?" Continuous data was obtainedfrom questions such as "How often does your teacher tell you yourgrade in reading?" and "What would your goal be for readingtomorrow?"Procedures. Three months prior to the implementation of the study,teachers received structured training in CBM during three one-hour afterschool workshops. One week prior to the study, teachers met with theresearcher to learn the procedures involved with their specificintervention and to review CBM procedures. Ongoing assistance wasprovided during the 7 weeks of the study.Two weeks prior to the implementation of the study, all studentsfrom both experimental groups were taught how to use the computerizedCBM program Monitoring Basic Skills Progress: Basic Reading (Fuchs etal., 1997b). During this training, all students (a) reviewed how to usethe keyboard; all students had previously received keyboard trainingthrough the school district; (b) were taught how to use the computersoftware; (c) were observed using the software until they demonstratedcorrect use on two separate occasions. Mastery of the software wasdetermined through teacher observation of two concurrent successfulcompletions of the CBM program. Corrective cor��rec��tiveadj.Counteracting or modifying what is malfunctioning, undesirable, or injurious.n.An agent that corrects.corrective,n feedback was provided asnecessary until all students reached mastery of the CBM program.Baselines were established by using the last three scores from thesetraining sessions. End-of-intervention goals were established by theteachers with assistance from the researcher.CBM with Goal Setting. Students in this condition attended atraining session on how to set goals using CBM data. Students weretaught (a) the purpose of a goal and goal line, (b) how to identifytheir daily goal, (c) to try to reach their daily goal, and (d) how todetermine if they were successful in reaching their daily goal. Toensure that the goal training was consistent, a training script was usedat each of the two middle schools. Students in this condition saw theteacher-set goal line before and after the computerized assessment.Students were instructed to set daily goals by writing down the numberof correct word replacements that the students felt they could meet.Students were instructed during training that their daily goal should be1 to 2 word choices higher than their last CBM score. A daily goal of Ito 2 additional word choices was considered to be a realistic goal basedon research of goal setting in CBM. Each time a student completed a CBMassessment, he or she completed the goal setting form (see Figure 1).The CBM Graph and Goal Line Test was used for students in the goalsetting condition after students had completed CBM and goal settingtraining to assess student understanding of graphed performance feedback(Stecker, Whinnery, & Fuchs, 1988). This test assessed studentknowledge of dates and scores of graph components, understanding goallines and daily and long-term goals. The mean accuracy for the group was96.7% with a range of 88% to 100%.Control group. Students in this condition did not see a teacher-setgoal line or a graph of their CBM scores, and were not taught toself-set goals. Students wrote down their score from the CBM assessmenton the CBM form and gave the score to the teacher immediately followingthe assessment. Upon completion of the CBM assessment, the teachersigned the CBM form and the student placed the form in his or her CBMfolder In a graphical user interface (GUI), a simulated file folder that holds data, applications and other folders. Folders were introduced on the Xerox Star, then popularized on the Macintosh and later adapted to Windows and Unix. In Unix and Linux, as well as DOS and Windows 3. .ResultsAfter baseline data, students completed two computerizedassessments per week. Treatment integrity was assessed by examining thenumber of completed CBM assessments. The percentage of completed CBMassessments for students in the goal setting group (M = 77.22, SD = 9.9)was not significantly different than the students in the control group(M = 82.60, SD = 10.50), t(17) = 1.43, p = .27.Setting realistic goals. Students in the goal setting group mettheir self-set daily goals 38% of the time during the 7 weekintervention period. Students set appropriate goals according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. thetraining and guidelines guidelines,n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. 46% of the time and met the realistically setgoals 48% of the time. Eight (89%) of the 9 students in the goal settinggroup met the end-of-intervention goal set by the teacher.Effects on student understanding of their reading goals. Studentswere individually administered the Student Awareness of Goals andProgress Interview (SAGPI; Fuchs et al., 1989a). For this 12 iteminterview, no significant differences between groups were found forpretreatment pretreatment,n the protocols required before beginning therapy, usually of a diagnostic nature; before treatment.pretreatment estimate,n See predetermination. . For posttreatment, significant differences were found ontwo items. When asked, "Does your teacher have a graph or record ofhow well you're you're?Contraction of you are.you'reyou areyou'rebe doing in reading?" During the pretest pre��test?n.1. a. A preliminary test administered to determine a student's baseline knowledge or preparedness for an educational experience or course of study.b. A test taken for practice.2. session,the percentage of students who answered yes was 44% (n = 4) and 50% (n =5) for the goal setting and control group, respectively. Duringposttesting, the percentage of students who responded yes was 100% (n =9) for the goal setting group and 50% (n = 5) for the control group.Achi square test indicated a significant relation between group andresponse, [chi square] (1, N = 19) = 5.70, p = .02.The other question in which a significant difference was foundduring posttesting was, "What would your goal be for readingtomorrow?" The pretest responses for 95% of the students were vaguesuch as, "read a chapter", or "do better." Duringposttesting, 44% of the students in the goal setting group specified aspecific number of words while no students in the control group gave aspecific answer. A chi square test revealed a significant differencebetween responses and treatment conditions, [chi square] (1, N = 19) =5.33, p = .02.DiscussionThe students in the goal setting group had difficulty settingrealistic daily goals despite specific guidelines and upper limits givenduring training. Students only met their self-set daily goals 38% of thetime and only met 48% of the goals that they set that met the goaltraining guidelines. These findings are supported by Graham and Harris(1989) in which the difficulty students with learning disabilities havesetting realistic goals is described. The current study supports theneed for ongoing training and teacher monitoring of student set goals.Without ongoing training it is likely that students will experiencefrustration caused by self-setting unrealistic and unobtainable goals.The current study had an intervention period of 7 weeks. A longerintervention in conjunction with ongoing training may increase studentsunderstanding of setting realistic goals. Despite the difficultystudents had setting daily goals, 78% of the students in the goalsetting group met the end-of-intervention goal set by the teacher.These findings support the need for teacher involvement in CBMassessments. It may not be enough to have students independentlycomplete CBM assessments. It appears that students need teacher feedbackregarding their progress in order to make assessments understandable andmore meaningful. Further discussion with the teacher would possibly bebeneficial for students on completion of CBM assessments.Although students had difficulty setting realistic goals, theposttest post��test?n.A test given after a lesson or a period of instruction to determine what the students have learned. results of the student interview showed that significantly morestudents in the goal setting group were able to specifically state aspecific reading goal. This study looked at whether or not the goal wasspecific and not vague such as "Do better." Therefore,students may be reporting specific yet unrealistic goals. This is anarea that needs to be examined further through research to determine howwell students understand daily goals and the relationship that dailygoals have with long-term goals.Utilizing student goal setting as a component of CBM is a featurethat could possibly assist students with learning disabilities torealize that they are making progress. Students with learningdisabilities often believe that they are unable to overcome theirdifficulties and end up feeling helpless (Licht Licht (Light), subtitled "The Seven Days of the Week," is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen which, in total, lasts over 29 hours. OriginThe project, originally titled Hikari , 1983). It is importantfor educators to realize that students with learning disabilities arecontinually con��tin��u��al?adj.1. Recurring regularly or frequently: the continual need to pay the mortgage.2. experiencing failure, which often leads to the belief thatthey lack ability. Due to this lack of ability, students may lower theirexpectations for future successes (Weiner Weiner can mean a metaphore for penis, or: Weiner, Arkansas Weiner is the surname of: Allan Weiner, American radio broadcast campaigner Anthony D. , 1979). Stone and May (2002)found that although students with learning disabilities in their studyhad a significantly less positive self-concept self-conceptn.An individual's assessment of his or her status on a single trait or on many human dimensions using societal or personal norms as criteria. than theiraverage-achieving peers, these same students over-estimated theiracademic skills. Since all students in the goal setting group recognizedthat his/her teacher had a graph of their reading, this informationcould be used to better estimate academic skills.There are several limitations to the current study. Increasing thenumber of students and the length of the intervention would providevaluable information as to the benefits of goal setting training.Students need to be taught specific goal setting procedures and manystudents will need ongoing training in goal setting procedures. Althoughstudents had difficulty self-setting reading CBM goals, students in thegoal setting condition were better able to specifically state readinggoals. It is also recommended that students meet with their readingteacher at least once a week to provide feedback regarding theirprogress toward reading goals and discuss possible reading strategiesthat may need to be reinforced. Another limitation to this study is thatgroups were randomly assigned by teachers, not students. It isrecommended that a follow-up follow-up,n the process of monitoring the progress of a patient after a period of active treatment.follow-upsubsequent.follow-up plan study be completed that randomly assigns Individuals to whom property is, will, or may be transferred by conveyance, will, Descent and Distribution, or statute; assignees.The term assigns is often found in deeds; for example, "heirs, administrators, and assigns to denote the assignable nature of students to treatment groups.Due to the vague responses that students initially provided whenasked what their goal for reading was, it is suggested that teacherswork to increase student awareness about individual long and short termgoals.ReferencesDeno, S. L. (1985). Curriculum-based measurement: The emergingalternative. Exceptional Children, 18, 19-32.Deno, S. L. (1989). Curriculum-based measurement and specialeducation services: A fundamental and direct relationship. In M. R.Shinn (Ed.). Curriculum-based measurement: Assessing special children(pp. 1-17). New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Guilford Guilford(gĭl`fərd), town (1990 pop. 19,848), New Haven co., S Conn., on Long Island Sound; founded 1639. Fishing, agriculture, and tourism are economically important. Guilford lies in an area that includes several summer shore communities. Press.Deno, S. L. (2003). Developments in curriculum-based measurement.The Journal of Special Education, 37, 184-192.Fuchs, L. S., Bahr, C. M., & Rieth, H. J. (1989). Effects ofgoal structures and performance contingencies Contingencies (ISSN 1048-9851) is the bimonthly magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries, providing a large and diverse readership with general interest and technical articles on a wide range of issues related to the actuarial profession. on the math performance ofadolescents with learning disabilities. Journal of LearningDisabilities, 22, 554-560.Fuchs, L. S., Butterworth, J. R., & Fuchs, D. (1989a). Effectsof ongoing curriculum-based measurement on student awareness of goalsand progress. Education and Treatment of Children, 12, 63-72.Fuchs, L. S., Deno, S. L., & Mirkin, P. (1984). Effects offrequent curriculum-based measurement and evaluations on pedagogy,student achievement, and student awareness of learning. American American,river, 30 mi (48 km) long, rising in N central Calif. in the Sierra Nevada and flowing SW into the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (see Sutter, John Augustus) along the river in 1848 led to the California gold rush of Educational Research Journal, 21, 449-460.Fuchs. L. S., Fuchs, D., & Deno, S. L. (1985). Importance ofgoal ambitiousness and goal mastery to student achievement. ExceptionalChildren, 52, 63-71.Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Karnes, K., Hamlett, C. L., Katzaroff, M.,& Dutka, S. (1997a). Effects of task-focused goals on low-achievingstudents with and without learning disabilities. American EducationalResearch Journal, 34. 513-543.Fuchs, L. S., Hamlett, C. L., & Fuchs, D. (1997b). MonitoringBasic Skills Growth: Basic Reading. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (1989). Cognitive training:Implications for written language. In J. Hughes & R. Hall (Eds.).Cognitive behavioral psychology behavioral psychologyn.See behaviorism. in the schools: A comprehensivehandbook For the handbook about Wikipedia, see .This article is about reference works. For the subnotebook computer, see . "Pocket reference" redirects here. . (pp. 247-279). New York: Guilford.Johnson, L., Graham, S., & Harris, K. (1997). The effects ofgoal setting and self-instruction on learning a reading comprehension Reading comprehension can be defined as the level of understanding of a passage or text. For normal reading rates (around 200-220 words per minute) an acceptable level of comprehension is above 75%. strategy: A study of students with learning disabilities. Journal ofLearning Disabilities, 30, 80-91.Licht, B. G. (1983). Cognitive-motivational factors that contributeto the achievement of learning-disabled children. Journal of LearningDisabilities, 16, 483-490.Stecker, P. M., Whinnery, K. W., & Fuchs, L. S. (1988).Curriculum Based Measurement Graph Test. Unpublished instrument.Stone, C. A., & May, A. L. (2002). The accuracy of academicself-evaluations in adolescents with learning disabilities. Journal ofLearning Disabilities, 35, 370-383.Weiner, B. (1979). A theory of motivation for some classroomexperiences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 3-25.Kristine D. Swain, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department ofSpecial Education and Communication Disorders communication disordern.Any of various disorders, such as stuttering or perseveration, characterized by impaired written or verbal expression. , University ofNebraska-Omaha.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr.Kristine D. Swain, Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska-Omaha,115 Kayser Hall, Omaha, NE 68182-0054; Email: kswain@mail.unomaha.edu.Table 1Student Characteristics by Experimental ConditionsCondition GS Control t-value [chi square]Age in Years M 12.26 12.36 0.31 * SD 0.41 0.64IQ M 98.00 101.60 0.78 * SD 9.63 9.58Reading Standard Score M 88.50 86.25 0.85 * SD 7.80 7.23Gender 1.80 * Male (n) 8 6 Female (n) 1 4Grade .05 * 6 (n) 7 3 7 (n) 2 7* not significantFigure 1. Students in the CBM with Goal Setting condition completedthe goal settingform each time he/she completed a CBM assessment.Goal Setting FormEnd of year goal: 22 (set by teacher and researcher) Your Goal Your Score Goal MetDate for today for today (yes or no)10/26 15 16 yes10/28 17 17 yes11/2 19 17 no11/4 8 18 yes