Since 2006, easyCBM teachers have been using both benchmarking and progress monitoring with their students. Few assessment systems have survived for such a long time, though many have entered the educational marketplace since then. It is because of you – all the teachers and administrators who have remained with us or are new users – that we can say with assurance: We got you!
20 years ago, life was simpler and assessments more amorphous. So, we developed easyCBM to give teachers a sturdy platform, one that could be picked up and used, off the shelf, immediately with students. Originally, only a few measures and alternate forms were available, bubble sheets were used to enter student responses without a digital interface, no diagnostic analysis or normative comparisons were available, few decision guides or just-in-time training could be found, student rosters had to be manually entered, and no administrative guidance system was present.
When we began developing easyCBM, we had no thought of still being here 20 years later. But the more we worked with teachers, the more we kept seeing areas of need.
So, over the years, with millions of dollars from federal grants and tons of input-feedback from teachers and administrators, we’ve crossed several thresholds. Math measures were added to the original reading measures, and then both were expanded. Measures in Spanish can now be used with dual language learners, Dyslexia screeners are now available, and entirely new diagnostic suite of measures in reading, writing, and math are being launched.
Perhaps most importantly, research has continued to provide an empirical basis for making important educational decisions: Which students are at risk of having problems in learning? How effective is my instruction: Did it make a difference? To provide a safe passage in the complex landscape for the next 20 years, we plan to continue our research and development program that supports effective and efficient assessment of students’ learning. Now is the best moment to begin those next 20 years.
With appreciation,
Dr. Gerald Tindal