Technical adequacy of the maze task for curriculum-based measurement of reading growth

The purpose of the present study was to examine the technical adequacy of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for assessing student growth over time. Participants were 43 second graders whose reading performance was measured monthly over 1 school year with the maze task. Technical characteristics of the CBM maze task were examined in terms of reliability, sensitivity, and validity for assessing student growth. Results showed that the maze task had good alternate-form reliability, with a mean coefficient of .81 and 1- to 3-month intervals between testing. The maze task also sensitively reflected improvement of student performance over a school year and revealed interindividual differences in growth rates. Finally, growth rates estimated on repeated maze scores were positively related to later reading performance on a standardized reading test; in addition, although a significant difference was not found, general education students appeared to develop reading proficiency faster than remedial education students. Results support the use of the maze task as a reliable, sensitive, and valid data collection procedure for assessing reading growth.