100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
PROGRESS MONITORING
FOR IEPS SERIES
Tina C.
Anderson,
Ph.D.
University of
Georgia Grif fin
Campus
INCREASING WRITING
SKILLS
Effective
Progress
Monitoring
for IEPs
WRITING SUBSKILLS
WORD
• Handwriting
• Spelling
SENTENCE
• Sentence
Construction
• Grammar &
Mechanics
PARAGRAPH &
ESSAY
• Structure
• Writing
Process
• Genre
Report
Progress
Choose a
Measure
Take
Baseline
Data
Adjust
Instruction
Monitor
Progress
Establish a
Goal
MEASURE: WRITTEN EXPRESSION CBM
¡ S tudent respond to a writing prompt
¡ 3 Scoring Procedures (TWW, WSC, CWS)
¡ L ength of Time (3-7 Minutes)
¡ Type of Passage (Narrative & Expository)
WRITTEN EXPRESSION CBM
SOURCES
www.aimsweb.com
www.interventioncentral.com
www.studentprogress.org
www.progressmonitoring.org
RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON REVIEW
OF LITERATURE
*Aimsweb Norms based on 3 minute writing samples with narrative passages at
all grades.
ALTERNATIVE FOR PRE-WRITING STAGE
Kindergarten or
students who are in
the prewriting
stage
¡ S creener for
Handwriting
Proficiency at
¡ w ww.hwtears.com
TAKE BASELINE DATA:
SAMPLE WRITING PROMPTS
Narrative Prompts
Expository Prompts
¡ One night I had a
strange dream
about . . .
¡ Describe a game you
like to play and tell why
you like it.
¡ One day when I got
home from school . . .
¡ Describe your favorite
day of the week and tell
why you like it.
TAKE BASELINE DATA:
ADMINISTER PROBES
You are going to write a [story]. First, I will read a
sentence, and then you will write a [story] about
what happens next. You will have 1 minute to think
about what you will write, and 3 minutes to write
your [story]. Remember to do your best work. If you
don’t know how to spell a word, you should guess.
Are there any questions? (Pause) Put your pencils
down and listen.
For the next minute think about . . . After 30 sec:
You should be thinking about . . After 1 min.:
Now begin writing . . . After 90 sec.:
You should be writing about . . . After 3 min.:
Stop. Put your pencils down.
SCORING PROBES
1.  Count the total words written and score for
TWW.
Any letter or group of letters separated by a
space is counted as a word, even if the word
is misspelled or a nonsense word.
SCORING RULES
RED PEN
2.  Circle misspelled words in red.
3.  Count misspelled words, subtract from TWW
for the WSC (words spelled correct).
SCORING RULES
BLACK PEN
4.  Read the entire passage, then draw a vertical
line where each sentence ends (if ending
punctuation) or where it should end (if ending
punctuation is left out).
5.  If a sentence is a run-on, you may have to
judge where the sentence should end. Place
a vertical line at this point. If a run-on
sentence is connected by conjunctions, as a
general rule, allow only one conjunction per
sentence.
SCORING RULES
RED PEN
6.  Underline words that are grammatically
incorrect, used incorrectly, or illegible.
7.  Underline words that should have been
capitalized, but were not. Score only “I”,
beginning of sentences, and proper nouns.
SCORING RULES
RED PEN
8.  Do not accept and, but, or then as correct
words at the beginning of a sentence. The
only exception to this rule is the first
sentence in the response since students
have been given a partial starter sentence.
9.  Ignore capitalization of words within a
sentence (wenT or WENT).
SCORING RULES
RED PEN
10. S core only end punctuation. Ignore all other
punctuation in the middle of the sentence
(commas, quotes, etc.). The only exception
to this rule is an apostrophe, because a
missing apostrophe would make the word
incorrectly spelled.
11. U nderline and count as incorrect any
unusual characters and non-standard
abbreviations (@, IDK).
SCORING RULES
RED PEN
12. I gnore obvious letter reversals.
BLUE PEN
13. P lace a caret ∧ between pairs of correct
words. Count correct word sequences
(carets) and score as CWS.
SCORE WRITTEN EXPRESSION CBM
The cave was very dark and . . .
I try to close my eyes, so I couldn’t see
anything, but that didn’t help. Than I
hear some one breathing. I try to
stream, but nother came out. The
breathing became close and close to
me, and the worst Part was that I
couldn’t see athing. At first I thought
meslef that I an Just emaging stuff.
SCORE WRITTEN EXPRESSION CBM
The cave was very dark and . . .
⌃I try to⌃ close⌃my⌃ eyes, ⌃so⌃ I
⌃couldn’t ⌃see ⌃anything, ⌃but ⌃that
⌃didn’t ⌃ help⌃.⁄ Than I hear some one
breathing⌃.⁄ ⌃I try to stream, but nother
came⌃ out⌃.⁄ ⌃The⌃ breathing⌃
became close and close to⌃ me, ⌃and
⌃the⌃ worst⌃ Part⌃ was⌃ that⌃ I
⌃couldn’t ⌃see athing.⁄ ⌃At ⌃first ⌃I
⌃thought meslef that ⌃ I an Just
emaging stuff⌃.⁄
58 TWW
44 WSC
37 CWS
SCORE WRITTEN EXPRESSION CBM
One day we were playing outside the
school and … I Shrunk a Person olmost
Steped on me But I Ran to fast ten Bjorn
Nodest me. I seid Can You help me with
Everthing he sied Yes! Ov course I sead
Ya!
SCORE WRITTEN EXPRESSION CBM
One day we were playing outside the
school and … ⌃I ⌃Shrunk ⁄ a Person
olmost Steped on ⌃me⌃ But⌃ I ⌃Ran to
fast ⁄ ten Bjorn Nodest me⌃.⁄⌃ I seid Can
⌃You⌃ help⌃ me⌃ with Everthing ⁄ he
sied Yes⌃! ⁄ Ov course ⌃I sead Ya!
33 TWW
22 WSC
14 CWS
GRAPH BASELINE DATA
1.  Administer 3 Written Expression writing probes in
one week. Use the median score as the baseline.
2.  Create a graph for the student.
ORGANIZING MATERIALS
Organization Idea I
¡  Organize enough probes for 36 weeks (e.g. 18).
¡  Use the Written Expression Probe Generator available at
http://www.interventioncentral.org/teacher-resources/
curriculum-based-measurement-probes-writing.
¡  Compile in a 3-prong folder.
¡  Use a chart in the front pocket
http://www.jimwrightonline.com/pdfdocs/cbmresources/
cbmgraphs/writing_140_12.pdf
ORGANIZING MATERIALS
Organization Idea 2
¡  Use a writing journal.
¡  Write prompts on the board or projector.
¡  Students write the date and sentence starter at the top
BEFORE timing begins (or use stick-on labels).
¡  Tape chart in front.
¡  Keep a personalized running list of errors and corrections in
back.
INCORPORATING IN GENERAL EDUCATION
CLASS
¡  “Quick Write” during warm-up or closing of lesson.
¡  Relate the prompt to current studies.
§  For example, “Describe the most admirable character in To Kill A
Mockingbird, and tell why you think he/she is admirable.”
¡  Be sure to follow the same pattern for prompts.
¡  Begin with a Think-Pair-Share or other technique to activate
background knowledge prior to writing.
¡  In station teaching, the SPED teacher can have a writing
station and incorporate progress monitoring.
ESTABLISH A GOAL
1.  Graph the baseline data using the median score of
three probes given in one week as the starting point.
2.  There are no set guidelines for determining the desired
rate of growth.
3.  To establish the goal, you might wish to use:
a)  Aimsweb norms (50 th percentile)
b)  Establish an increase from 10 th percentile to 25 th
percentile; from 25 th percentile to 50 th percentile.
c)  Baseline score + (Weekly Growth Rate x 36)
d)  Add 10-14 CWS to Baseline Score for 3-minute
samples
ESTABLISH A GOAL- AVG WEEKLY
GROWTH RATES
TWW
K .22
1 .36
CWS
2
3
4
5
6
7
8-12
.33
.33
.28
.33
.44
.17
.19
EXAMPLE IEP GOALS
Givenawriting
prompt,Johnwill
writearesponsewith
completesentences
usingstandard
conventions
(grammar/syntax,
punctuation,
capitalization,and
spelling).
Johnwillincreasehis
writing0luency(total
wordswrittenin
responsetoawriting
prompt).
___CorrectWriting
Sequencesin___
minutes(CWS)
WrittenExpression
CBM
From_____to_____Total WrittenExpressionCBM
WordsWrittenin3
minutes(TWW)
EXAMPLE IEP GOALS
¡ I f a student’s writing is so impaired by
handwriting or spelling that he cannot write a
complete sentence, you may include the use
of a word processor, an adapted word
processor (e.g. word prediction, audio, text to
speech), or scribing in the goal.
MONITOR PROGRESS
Administering Probes--¡  Important: Be sure write the date of every probe.
¡  Probes can be given to the entire class during journal writing
or as a warm-up, even if only some of the student’s samples
are scored. They can also be administered during station
teaching as one of the teacher-directed stations.
¡  Prompts can relate to instruction as long as background
knowledge is adequate.
MONITOR PROGRESS
Scoring/Graphing Results:
¡  Writing samples should be scored ASAP and feedback
provided to the student so that goals can be set and
instruction adjusted.
¡  Students can graph their own scores.
¡  You may train a parent, paraprofessional or student assistant
to help with scoring as long as you complete the final scores.
ADJUST INSTRUCTION
1.  Specific Feedback ASAP
“You have improved your verb tenses! That is great! On the last
writing sample you made four verb tense errors (is/was,
doesn’t/didn’t) and this time you made only one! Why don’t you
shoot for 0 errors on the next sample?”
“I’d also like to suggest another skill for improvement. How
many words did you accidently leave out of your passage?
Right, you left out 4. Let’s talk about some ways that can help
you, and you can practice. OK?”
ADJUST INSTRUCTION
2.  Alternative Approach (Co-teaching) for
providing feedback to one at a time.
ADJUST INSTRUCTION
¡ D aily practice
-Target one skill at a time
-Use a journal
ADJUST INSTRUCTION
DECISION RULE
Examine the last 4 probes and use the 4-point
rule or the trend-line rule.
ADJUST INSTRUCTION
¡  Self-monitoring-highlighting
¡  Individualized “cheat
sheets” for grammar and
spelling
¡  Word processor
¡  Adapted word processor
¡  iPAD
¡  Apps
¡  Reward for scored at or
above the goal line
¡  Texting without text talk
¡  Email
¡  SRSD (Self-Regulated
Strategy Development)
¡  Sentence Writing Strategy
(SIMS)
¡  Sentence Combining
Strategy
¡  COPS Strategy
REPORT PROGRESS
Each grading period:
1.  Make a copy of the student’s graph.
2.  Optional: Staple a copy of the baseline
writing sample and the last writing sample.
ANNUAL IEP REVIEW
P ROG ES S M ON ITORIN G
¡  Write a labe l “ P ro g re s s
Monitoring” unde r t he
Re s ult s of Init ial or Mos t
Re ce nt Evaluat ion
s e c t io n.
¡  Lis t t h e re s ult s of t h e
las t t hre e probe s on t he
P re s e nt Leve ls o f
Ac ade m ic Ac h ieve m e nt
and Funct ional
Per for mance.
¡  Frame of re fe re nce /
B e nc h m ark
¡  De scribe growt h.
Writ te n Ex pre s s io n C B M -C o rre c t Writ ing S e que nc e s
( C WS )
3 r d Grade Benc h mark ( 50t h pe rcenti le) = 3 0 CWS
4 / 1 / 2 014
1 2 CWS 10 t h -2 5 t h pe rce nt ile
4 / 3 / 2 014
14 C WS 10 t h -2 5 t h pe rce nt ile
4 / 4 / 2 014
1 5 C WS 10 t h -2 5 t h pe rce nt ile
Incre as e d 5 corre ct word s e que nce s in one ye ar.
Use of word proce ssor on all probe s. ANNUAL IEP REVIEW
Needs:
¡  Since Written Expression CBM
is not graded, you may use the
median of the last 3 probes as
a baseline for the upcoming
year.
¡  Describe specific skills in the
Needs section.
Writing:
Khiara need to improve her
written expression skills.
Currently Khiara writes in
complete simple sentences but
has dif ficulty staying on topic.
She needs to be able to write
compound and complex
sentences. She doesn’t
consistently use correct verb
tenses, plurals, and possessives.
She misspells common
homophones. The median score
on her most recent Written
Expression CBM probes was 14
correct word sequences.
EXAMPLE IEP
Impact of the Disability on Involvement and Progress in the
General Curriculum:
Khiara writes very slowly and gives up easily. She struggles
when taking notes and completing writing assignments. She is
able to access and make progress in grade-level writing
standards with the use of a word processor.
EXAMPLE IEP
MeasurableGoal
Givenawordprocessor
andawritingprompt,
Khiarawillwritea
responsewithcomplete
sentencesusingstandard
conventions(grammar/
syntax,punctuation,
capitalization,and
spelling).
CriteriaforMastery
__CorrectWriting
Sequencesin__minutes
onmedianof3probes
MethodofEvaluation
WrittenExpressionCBM