How do I determine a student's CBM level?

How do I determine a student's CBM level?

Because intervention is given to students at their current instructional level and not at their current grade level, determining the assessment level for Progress Monitoring is important. In other words, if you have a student that is working far below grade level it is more beneficial to monitor progress by selecting a Progress Monitoring Level more closely aligned to their instructional level. Progress Monitoring probes should be given at the student's baseline learning level established by their vertically scaled score on the screener and other student data previously collected.

If the student has taken a Classworks assessment (Universal Screener or Summative Benchmark), the student's CBM level is automatically recommended based on their results. The teacher can easily edit this before the student begins Progress Monitoring based on what they know about the student.

The Universal Screener Results: RtI Recommendations Report will also include the recommended PM Level. Click here for instructions on generating this report.



When assigning Curriculum Sampling CBM probes use the PM level automatically assigned from the Universal Screener data. If the student has grade-level equivalency from an outside assessment (NWEA Map Skills, Renaissance Star, etc...) the teacher can select the appropriate level when starting the CBM for a student.

If the student has no current assessment data for the student, it is recommended that CBM levels start 2 levels below a student's grade level if they're Tier 2 and 3 levels below a student's grade level if they are Tier 3.

When assigning Skills-based CBM probes, use the drop-down menu to select a skill area to monitor. To determine which level to select, review a student’s test data to identify the student performance level and see where a student may need the most urgent intervention and monitoring. 

    • Related Articles

    • Interpreting Your Student's Results when using Curriculum Sampling CBM probes

      Once students have started Progress Monitoring using curriculum sampling CBM probes and have at least 3 probes completed, a trend line will appear on their graph. Classworks determines the effectiveness of the intervention by taking into account the ...
    • Interpreting Your Student's Results when using Skills Based CBM probes

      Once students have started Progress Monitoring using skills-based CBM probes and have at least 3 probes completed, a trend line will appear on their graph. Classworks determines the effectiveness of the intervention by taking into account the grade ...
    • What are CBM Probes?

      CBM stands for Curriculum-Based Measurement. It is the process by which a student’s general learning is measured, with repeated administrations of equated probes. When used for progress monitoring, Curriculum-Based Measurements should have the ...
    • How can I determine if a student completed a CBM Probe this week?

      To see if a student has completed their CBM probe for the current week, use the filters on the left side of the Progress Monitoring page to select Active Progress Monitoring Sessions and choose Yes under the Complete this week. If a student hasn't ...
    • Can I reassign a CBM Probe already completed by a student?

      Classworks makes it easy to reassign a CBM Probe to a student if you think they would benefit from another attempt. Maybe the student rushed through it that week or didn't try their best. Whatever the reason, that week's probe can be reassigned. To ...