(gentle music) - Hello, I'm Dr. Robert Rain with The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, right here at the University of Texas at Austin. I'm here to share a valuable resource for educators through one of our great initiatives, Tiered Interventions Using Evidence-Based Research, widely known as TIER. TIER has provided free computational fluency progress monitoring measures for kindergarten through grade 6.
The purpose of the TIER Computational Fluency Progress Monitoring System is to measure students' computational fluency over time. This information is helpful in Tiers 1, 2, and 3, but especially in targeted and intensive intervention. In an MTSS framework, typically about 20% of students require targeted intervention. A much smaller number of students, typically about 5% or less, require that intensive intervention.
The TIER Computational Fluency Progress Monitoring System is based on a well-known approach called Curriculum-Based Measurement, or CBM. CBMs are timed tests that represent an important indicator of general proficiency in the domain. For mathematics, that indicator is often considered to be computational fluency. Although computational fluency is only one strand of mathematical proficiency, it has been found to be predictive of students' overall mathematics performance in kindergarten through grade 6.
Computational fluency is defined as efficient and accurate methods for computing, and is based on the standards specified in the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills, or TEKS. At each grade, the TEKS that comprise aspects of computational fluency were identified through a systematic review process. The TIER Computational Fluency Progress Monitoring System includes 20 forms in each grade, kindergarten through grade 6. Each form includes 30 to 40 items assessing the computational fluency TEKS.
The representation of the TEKS on each form was based on proportional weighing and an analysis of their relative importance at that grade level. (gentle music continues) So if all this sounds good to you so far, let's take a look at an example. Let's start with the kindergarten example. Each measure is two pages.
Before administration makes sure that you have printed both pages of the measures so that all items are included. Check that students put their name and a date at the top of each measure. Read the standardized instructions aloud using the script provided in the Administration and Scoring Instructions packet. For kindergarten, the first page, shown here, focuses on quantity comparison.
Set a timer for one minute for students to complete this first page, circling which image or number is greater in each box. Okay, so on the second page of the kindergarten measure, displayed here, it focuses on number sequence, so have students turn to this page, then set a timer for one minute, students fill in the blanks with the missing number. It is important to precisely and consistently follow the administration timing to allow for valid interpretations of student progress. Administration is standardized so that students always have the same amount of time.
We won't take the time during this brief introduction to go through all grade levels, but just know that a similar process is followed for all grades in kindergarten through 6. After administration, students' responses are scored using the answer keys provided. The number of items the student responds to correctly within the allotted time is plotted on a graph to chart student progress in order to make instructional decisions. Now, here is a graphic of a table summarizing the timing of the progress monitoring measures for each grade level.
As you can see, these are brief measures that can be used frequently to provide quick checks of student progress and inform intervention instruction. As previously mentioned, this resource also includes an Administration and Scoring Instructions packet. The instructions begin with an overview of the assessment system and an overview of administration and scoring. These instructions contain all the information you need to use the measures.
There are some additional helpful materials that are provided in the appendices of the Administration and Scoring Instructions packet. For example, a chart is provided in English and Spanish to graph students' progress by session. And note that the appendices also include a breakdown of the TEKS assessed by grade level. This section shows how many items on the forms assess each of the TEKS expectations listed.
We do recommend that these progress monitoring measures be administered every one to two weeks for students in Tier 2 or targeted intervention, and at least once a week for students in Tier 3 or intensive intervention. Data should be graphed to help with timely decision-making, and TIER offers a free progress monitoring tool that automatically creates line graphs for students based on their progress monitoring data. (gentle music continues) We invite you to visit the resources section of the Texas SPED Support website at spedsupport.tea.texas.gov, and click on the Resources tab.
In the search bar, type in progress monitoring tool and click on TIER Progress Monitoring Tool. You will be able to view and download the free tool and watch a brief instructional video highlighting the components of the tool. For additional TIER course options on TEA Learn, visit the virtual learning library at sped.support \mtss-learning-library. I hope this information has been helpful.
On behalf of my colleagues at TIER at The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, we wish you the best on your MTSS journey. (gentle music continues)
