I visited the website easycbm for the first time and watched a variety of videos and engaged in tutorials and training as well. The easy CBM video was very explicit and set the basis for my website exploring. The main aspect I pulled from that video included that CBM is highly beneficial because it’s cheap, easy to use, sensitive to change and available for everyone. It’s improved because it now has the ability to administer to individual/groups of students for progress monitoring using long range goals for the year. It generates sufficient data to create instructional decisions with integrity, evaluate instruction and make data driven decisions. The progress monitoring must be consistent and can determine the effectiveness of an intervention. RTI is meant to be comprehensive and systematic in building delivery. It uses universal screenings, benchmarks and forms for seasonal use. The Measure section was especially effective in that it’s quick to grab and use and I can feel confident in that they are research based and accurate reflections of students’ knowledge. I’ve seen teachers use methods like this to determine where their students are and guide their IEP goals, deciding if labels are appropriate and best fitting. The overview of individual administration overwhelmed me, and I can’t imagine how a young child or student with a disability of any type would be able to respond to all those verbal directions at once. I know they weren’t asking a lot, but it could be very overwhelming, I’m wondering if there’s an alternative or if the student is able to view them as well. It would be hard to remain so unbiased and not offer help or praise to students for me personally. I don’t like that if they don’t understand directions, we can only repeat standardized directions back. I feel like I still wouldn’t feel confident enough in saying I’m proficient with CBM measures yet, even after all the training exercises but definitely much more aware and feel comfortable sharing my experience. I think with more time, exposure and actually using this with students in my current/future placements I will grow more comfortable and confident in saying I’m proficient.
