Graph Out Loud: Pre-Service Teachers' Data Decisions and Interpretations of CBM Progress Graphs.

Data-based instruction (DBI) is a process in which teachers use progress data to make ongoing instructional decisions for students with learning disabilities. Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a common form of progress monitoring, and CBM data are placed on a graph to guide decision-making. Despite the central role that graph interpretation plays in the successful implementation of DBI, relatively little attention has been devoted to investigating this skill among special education teachers. In the present study, we examined the data decisions of 32 pre-service special education teachers (29 females and 3 males). Participants viewed data presented sequentially on CBM progress graphs and used a think-aloud procedure to explain their reasoning each time they indicated they would make instructional changes. We also asked participants to make the same type of decisions in response to static CBM progress graphs depicting 10 weeks of data. Overall, there was inconsistency in pre-service teachers' responses related to when or why they would make an instructional change. Decisions were often influenced by graph-related features, such as variability in the data. Furthermore, responses suggested misunderstandings that led to premature instructional change decisions and reliance on individual data points.

Effects of Varying Levels of Data Use to Intensify a Multisyllabic Word Reading Intervention for Upper Elementary Students With or at Risk for Reading Disabilities.

For students who show inadequate response to research-based intervention, intensification of intervention using data-based decision making (DBDM) is recommended. There is a paucity of research on upper elementary students related to the efficacy of (a) word reading interventions and (b) DBDM procedures. This randomized controlled trial examined the differential effects of data use at two timepoints to intensify a multisyllabic word reading intervention for Grades 4 and 5 students with or at risk for reading disabilities (RD). Eighty-eight students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: initial customization of the intervention (IC-only), initial customization with DBDM (IC + DBDM), or a business-as-usual comparison condition. Results indicated that (a) students in both treatment conditions outperformed the comparison condition on multisyllabic word reading and (b) students in the IC + DBDM condition also outperformed comparison students on decoding. Implications, including the use of DBDM in addition to IC-only as well as methods for decision-making within a small-group context, are discussed.