A Behavioral Evaluation of Curriculum-Based Assessment of Reading

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the effects of setting and method accuracy in Curriculum-Based Assessment (CBA), based on Cone's (1981, 1987) elaboration of a methodology for validating behavioral assessment procedures. The effects of who administered the assessment (teacher vs. author), the physical location of the assessment (reading group vs. teacher's desk vs. office outside classroom), and whether the performance was timed or untimed were examined for oral reading rates of 26 third- and fourth-grade students in a regular education classroom. The effects of these conditions on the number of words read correctly per minute (WC) and the percentage of errors (%E) were examined in three separate studies. Results showed significant effects for the tester, setting, and task demand variables on WC scores and significant effects for the task demand variables on%E scores. Implications of these results are addressed, and the needed research in this area is discussed.

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