Using Oral Reading Rate to Predict Student Performance on Statewide Achievement Tests

Abstract

In this study, a curriculum-based measurement (CBM) of reading aloud from narrative passages was used to predict performance on statewide achievement tests in reading and math. Scores on multiple-choice reading and math achievement tests were moderately correlated with scores on rate measures during the same year and rate measures administered 1 year previously. The results provide initial support for use of timed oral readings to predict students' performance on statewide achievement tests. Usefulness of CBM in monitoring students' progress toward preestablished benchmarks is supported, as well as the stability of the measures over time. Results are interpreted as a new application of research conducted on CBM during the past 2 decades. In this study, a curriculum-based measurement (CBM) of reading aloud from narrative passages was used to predict performance on statewide achievement tests in reading and math. Scores on multiple-choice reading and math achievement tests were moderately correlated with scores on rate measures during the same year and rate measures administered 1 year previously. The results provide initial support for use of timed oral readings to predict students' performance on statewide achievement tests. Usefulness of CBM in monitoring students' progress toward preestablished benchmarks is supported, as well as the stability of the measures over time. Results are interpreted as a new application of research conducted on CBM during the past 2 decades.