In this chapter, we focus on Deno and Mirkin’s (1977) well-known Data-Based Program Modification manual. Despite its title, the manual’s main purpose is to detail an innovative and ambitious model of service delivery (Special Education Resource Teacher, or SERT) by which special educators’ roles would change to ensure an appropriate education for students with disabilities. Although formulated more than three decades ago, this SERT model addresses important issues and problems that resonate today. Our review serves in part as an example of the sometimes cyclical nature of educational policy discussions. It also illustrates the informed, innovative, and practical thinking that...

In 1977, the Council for Exceptional Children publishedData-Based Program Modification: A Manual, written by Stan Deno and Phyllis Mirkin. Deno and Mirkin developed Data-Based Program Modification to provide teachers with a set of behaviorally based procedures for evaluating and improving the educational programs of students with learning problems. The basic process of data-based program modification consisted of (a) assessing a student’s performance discrepancies, (b) specifying the student’s educational program goals and objectives, and (c) measuring the student’s progress and performance. Data-Based Program Modification served as a precursor to Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM).

Interestingly enough, 1977 was also the year that...

In the past, for many educators and parents, the collection and interpretation of academic assessment data meant relying on school psychologists, speech language pathologists, or other specialists with degrees and licenses to administer and interpret high-stakes tests. While there is merit in having trained specialists administer and interpret such assessments, it also leaves teachers and parents, who typically work most closely with students, in a passive role. This role involves being a recipient of information rather than an active collaborator, which can foster a disconnect between assessment and instruction because the individuals doing the assessment are not providing the instruction....

The collaboration of Dr. Stanley Deno and the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) can be traced to 1971 when Deno initiated the Seward-University Project, a cooperative effort between MPS and the University of Minnesota. In writing a chapter for a book titledInstructional Alternatives for Exceptional Children, he observes that traditional assessments fell short on measuring student performance and that better evaluation techniques were necessary for making accurate judgments about student needs and progress (Deno and Gross, 1973).

Without such measures, communication among interested persons on objectives and evaluations of progress can become mired in personal subjective judgments and disagreements. Quantitative...

I will begin this chapter with a parable. The parable is relevant for a book in honor of Stanley Deno’s contribution (originally and foundationally with Phyllis Mirkin) to the field of education.

The king woke up one morning and told the queen that he wanted a kite made for him. The kite had to be fit for a king, so the queen called her most loyal craftsman to her.

“This has to be a kite like no other,” she said. “The king told me that he wanted it made out of gold instead of wood.”

The craftsman went home and...

At the Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities (IRLD) at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Stanley Deno, as coprincipal investigator, began his quest to find a practical tool for educators to use for the purpose of frequently monitoring students’ progress. One of the driving concerns in developing such a tool was the need for educators to know early in their instruction whether students were progressing. If progress was not satisfactory, changes in instruction could be made in a timely fashion to improve the student’s trajectory.

In the 1970s, the main assessment tools available to educators were standardized norm-referenced measures that...

For reasons that remain poorly understood, learning to recognize written words constitutes a formidable challenge for some first graders. Figuring out which word is represented by a sequence of letters sometimes seems almost impossible for these students, even when they receive help (e.g., Torgesen et al., 1999). Word-recognition difficulties are serious and should be prevented or addressed through remediation as early as possible and in the most efficient manner available, if only to avoid students developing a deep aversion for reading.

Well-implemented, evidence-based, class-wide interventions represent a critical first-line prevention effort (Al Otaiba and Fuchs, 2006; Dion, Brodeur, Gosselin, Campeau,...

Since the inception of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in the late 1970s at the University of Minnesota, Stanley Deno’s work on CBM and goal-oriented monitoring, data-based decision making, and General Outcome Measurement has provided the foundation for the development of measures to be used for formative evaluation of academic progress (e.g., Deno, 1985; Deno and Fuchs, 1987; Deno and Mirkin, 1977; Fuchs and Deno, 1994). This chapter focuses on three key principles of General Outcome Measurement and data-based decision making that have guided and provided energy for much of our work in early literacy: (a) targeting assessment onindicatorsof basic...

When Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) research was beginning in the 1970s, members of the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities (IRLD) would probably have scarcely believed that thirty years later, educators and psychologists would be collecting CBM data using handheld devices or laptop computers or that teachers would be sharing and discussing CBM data with their peers online. Yet these and many other technological applications of CBM are becoming increasingly common in today’s classrooms. In his seminal article, “Curriculum-Based Measurement: The Emerging Alternative,” Stanley Deno (1985) described an assessment system that would be “reliable and valid…simple and efficient…[and]...

On a dusty shelf in my office sits a coffee-stained copy ofData-Based Program Modification: A Manual, authored by Stanley Deno and Phyllis Mirkin in 1977. This spiral-bound volume, with pale green graph paper and upward-sloping lines of data on its cover, is emblematic of past, present, and future advancements in Curriculum-Based Measurement. In this chapter, I draw from it and from my graduate school experiences to reflect on how Stanley Deno’s career achievements in progress monitoring research have influenced and contributed to work in secondary mathematics progress monitoring.

I am continually reminded of my good fortune in having Stanley...

Heather Campbell and I are pleased to be included in this volume and to have the opportunity to reflect on the question of how Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) research has influenced policy and practice at the secondary-school level. I (Espin) was a student of Stanley Deno’s, and Heather was a “grand-student” of his–that is, she was a student of mine. Both of us are interested in the development of CBM progress monitoring for secondary-school students and are happy to see a growing interest in the topic in the schools. Twenty years ago such interest did not exist, and people such...

Proficient reading skills are integral to both school and life success. Decades of research have shown that early elementary-aged children with reading skill deficits experience persistent academic failure and difficulty as they progress through school (Chard and Kame’enui, 2000; Felton and Wood, 1992; Juel, 1988). Research has also evidenced, however, that reading failure can be prevented if identified early and treated vigorously (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000; National Research Council, 1998). Reading achievement of low-performing students can be significantly improved if systematic, explicit instruction and timely intensive intervention are delivered early in students’ school careers (Chard...

Before I describe how I view Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) contributing to the health of general education, I take a brief side trip to explain how Professor Deno’s work and that of his students influenced my own development as a teacher and researcher. Although my memory is a bit hazy, I believe my first encounter was the Deno (1985) paper inExceptional Childrenthat explained the CBM research framework and provided the empirical support for the emerging CBM model. Shortly thereafter or possibly concurrently, I met Deno, along with Lynn and Doug Fuchs, as we were frequently on the same American...

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) was formally developed under the guidance of Stanley L. Deno, codirector of the Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities at the University of Minnesota in the late 1970s. The focus was primarily on children with learning disabilities who typically perform poorly in reading, mathematics, and writing. CBM provided an alternative approach to address the inadequacy of standardized achievement tests and the need to frequently monitor progress in core academics. However, early in the development of CBM, it became clear that the measures were useful and valid tools for establishing normative levels of performance and progress for nondisabled...

As other chapters in this book have recounted, Stanley Deno’s work has spanned almost fifty years. His dedication to one line of research has yielded tremendous knowledge development in the area of progress monitoring and provides a seamless transition from research to practice. The field owes a great debt of gratitude to Stanley Deno and colleagues who have demonstrated the use and effectiveness of simple, timed measures. The body of work underscores the relative effectiveness of automaticity as a barometer in oral reading, math computation, and writing.

The purpose of this chapter is to summarize a study inspired by Deno...

Dr. Stanley Deno changed education when he and colleagues developed Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM; Deno, 1985) in the 1980s. Since those initial years, CBM has been expanded in a variety of ways, all working toward providing educators with data to make informed instructional decisions about the performance and progress of students. One such expansion has been the recent development of General Outcome Measures (GOMs; of which CBM is a form) for students with significant cognitive disabilities–a term used to describe a group of students who both have an identified disability and who participate in state standards assessments through the alternate...

The advent of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) and the seminal work of Stanley Deno (1985) represent significant advances in educational research and practice, particularly in terms of the instruction for students at risk for and with disabilities. CBM has contributed greatly to the use of student assessment data in making instructional decisions. This chapter specifically examines the utility (Messick, 1989) of CBM for aligning classroom instruction with statewide standards and state-adopted tests of students’ achievement. In the opening section, we briefly describe a utilitarian perspective on test validity and outline the challenges and potential value of using CBM to link instruction...

In this contribution, I begin by highlighting the critical features of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) that make it possible to use the measures in conjunction with current large-scale assessments. It is important to note the technical research on and essential features of CBM because of the importance of large-scale testing programs. When CBM measures are used in conjunction with large-scale tests, the measures come under increased scrutiny because of the potentially serious consequences that result from their use.

I next acknowledge that, under the leadership of Stanley Deno, those of us who have worked with CBM over the past four decades...

State assessments of academic achievement are designed to provide a static indicator of the knowledge and skills of students in relation to state-defined academic content standards (Yell, Katsiyannis, and Shriner, 2006). Despite rhetoric about the instructional relevance of these large-scale assessments and attempts to increase their implications for classroom instruction, they have remained fairly far removed from the day-to-day decision making about instruction in the classroom (National Research Council, 2003). In contrast, Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) generally is deined by its relevance to instruction and instructional decision making (Deno, 1992, 2003; Gersten, Keating, and Irvin, 1995). This emphasis on instructional relevance...

This text is a paean to the significance and impact of Stanley Deno’s scholarship on Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM). Yet as significant as his scholarly accomplishments have proven to be, Deno also took seriously his role as a teacher educator. In his teaching, he endeavored to provide practitioners a practical means for solving the problems they encountered in their classrooms. In fact, we believe hisscholarlyinterest in CBM grew out of hispracticalinterest of helping teachers solve problems. At the very least, they were spawned together.

Deno may not have been a scholar of teacher education, but his scholarship...

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM; Deno, 1985) is a central part of many special education teachers’ vocabulary and practice. Monitoring students’ basic academic performance using CBM procedures and assessments is widely considered best practice in special education, while its use is spreading within general education (Deno et al., 2009). We believe that several factors have contributed to the success of CBM within the teaching profession. First, CBM research began with teachers, taking a bottom-up approach. Second, it has been aligned with special education federal legislation, in turn helping teachers maintain due process compliance. Third, CBM has further professionalized the field of teaching...

It is amazing how one small book can have such a large impact on one’s professional thinking and career. In 1982, we had both just recently become school psychology trainers at Lehigh University (Lentz was brand new) and prior to that had been involved in behaviorally oriented services, but not as school psychologists. We were not interested in the (at that time) traditional school psychology model and badly wanted to move the Lehigh model toward a behaviorally oriented, intervention-based program. As we were in the midst of this complicated process (more than we both had naively anticipated), we came across...

Dr. Stanley Deno made substantial contributions to the field of school psychology. Perhaps the most noted and widely recognized of the contributions is the conceptualization, development, and dissemination of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM). As is true of many researchers in school psychology, the author of this chapter has spent a substantial amount of time and energy on the study of CBM procedures and instrumentation. As of 2009, more than three hundred studies that examined CBM were published in peer-refereed outlets. The scope of application and impact of CBM is substantial; perhaps one of CBM’s most significant contributions is that it enables...

The ability to comprehend what we read is central to success and satisfaction in our lives. Indeed, individuals who experience difficulty with reading comprehension also experience difficulties in school, at the workplace, and in social life. The number of school-aged individuals with such difficulty is considerable (Paris, Carpenter, Paris, and Hamilton, 2005; Perie, Grigg, and Donahue, 2005; Verhoeven, Biemond, Gijsel, and Netten, 2007); moreover, the problems do not disappear with age, as difficulties understanding text at the word and discourse level often continue into adolescence and adulthood (Ehrlich, 1996; Greenberg, Ehri, and Perin, 1997; Perfetti, Yang, and Schmalhofer, 2008). Individuals...

During my graduate-school years in the research room on the second floor of Burton Hall, I was always fascinated with “Deno-isms,” words of wisdom delivered by Stanley Deno with humor and thoughtfulness. One of the lessons I learned at that time was that I was a part of a grand family tree, a branch that my good friend David Rogers called the “next generation of CBM.” I have enjoyed the crew members of the “next generation of CBM,” including many of my esteemed colleagues, such as Chris Espin (of course, she had already received her black belt in Tae Kwon...

The past directs the future and the future learns from the past. Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) has laid a foundation for making evidence-based, accountability-emphasized education systems for students with learning difficulties not only in the United States but also in South Korea. CBM, as a methodology, permits teachers to find out how students are progressing in basic academic areas such as math, reading, writing, and spelling using a systematic method. The research in this area by Professor Stanley Deno at the University of Minnesota has influenced much of the current research and practice for students with learning disabilities (LD); furthermore, future...

In 2005, a public service video showing young children from Peru reading a passage about a dog named Dogo and answering questions introduced parents, educators, and policymakers to the utility of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) for determining who could read fluently and who could not (Metas Claras Para Aprender Mejor, 2005). It also introduced the notion that quick assessments are useful for setting the direction in education reform by providing “comprehensible and actionable information on student performance” (Abadazi, Crouch, Echegary, Pasco, and Sampe, 2005, p. 137). The report that followed confirmed what is often assumed but rarely documented–that students in...

Reading comprehension is a multidimensional construct. This conclusion is consistent with recent initiatives in the field that involved exploring the relative contribution of component skills to performance on well-known reading comprehension tests (Cutting and Scarborough, 2006; Keenan and Betjemann, 2006). The findings of these studies have revealed that a reader’s performance on these tests depends on different component skills. This finding raises the possibility that commonly used tests of reading comprehension may tap different language and cognitive processes and highlights the need for a systematic investigation of the relative contribution of these component skills to performance on different reading comprehension...