Curriculum-Based Measurement and Developmental Reading Models: Opportunities for Cross-Validation

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a standardized form of curriculum-based assessment (CBA) that relies on rate samples to assess academic skills. These measures were empirically derived, but the use of such rate measures also is consistent with developmental reading models such as Chad's stages of reading development and LaBerge and Samuels' model of automaticity. In fact, oral reading rate measures may be a more theoretically sound assessment method than are many traditional reading assessment practices. The empirically validated usefulness of CBM measures in the field in turn provides valuable support for the developmental models of reading.