Developing a school‐wide progress‐monitoring system

This article describes the development of a process for universal screening and progress monitoring in reading at the elementary level that can be used in a school‐wide Response to Intervention (RtI) model. University personnel worked with teachers and administration at an urban elementary school to develop and implement the model in response to a school district mandate for school improvement. All students were screened in reading during the fall using the MAZE procedure, and students scoring in the lowest 20% of each class were monitored using curriculum‐based measurement of oral reading every other week. The MAZE was re‐administered to all students in the winter and spring to assess school‐wide growth in reading. Features of the model that made it useful include group administration of the screening task and use of the same passages at all grades so that direct comparisons could be made within and across grade levels, and across years. Results of model implementation are described for all students and for special subgroups, and recommendations and examples are provided for data use with respect to all students, students at risk, students who are non‐native English speakers, and students with special needs.