AIMSWeb

More than 25 years of research has shown that listening to a child read graded passages aloud for 1 minute and calculating the number of words read correct per minute provides a highly reliable and valid measure of general reading achievement, including comprehension, for most students.

This testing practice, Reading Curriculum-Based Measurement (R-CBM) has met the standards for use in Reading First as determined by the Secretary of Education's Committee on Reading Assessment and the Office of Special Education Program's National Center for Student Progress Monitoring.

To assist educators in assessing students using R-CBM, Edformation has developed high quality sets of Standard Reading Assessment Passages for Grades K-8 as part of the AIMSweb system. Typically, there are over 30 equivalent passages at each grade.

The passages were written by experienced educators and field-tested, revised, and researched by experienced educational researchers. The technical manual describes both the passage construction process and the outcomes with respect to field-testing and relations to a variety of readability formulae and alternate form reliability. AIMSweb R-CBM assessments:

• Meet professional standards for reliability validity, and sensitivity to improvement.
• Are research-based.
• Are Reading First and IDEA aligned.
• Are curriculum independent, ensuring that student achievement is assessed equitably regardless of curriculum differences among teachers and schools, and/or changes in curriculum over time.
• Available for Grades K through 8. *Also available in English.