Frequently Asked Questions
Learning more about easyCBM
1. What sort of technical adequacy do the CBM measures in this system have?
The Progress Monitoring measures offered through easyCBM have been designed using the most modern approaches to designing, testing, and revising student assessments. Detailed information about the design considerations and technical adequacy of each of the measures can be found in the individual Technical Reports related to each type of measure. Please click on the link below to access our library of Technical Reports We will continue to add additional reports as we complete further studies.BRT website - Publications / Technical Reports
2. What are your assessments based on?
The math assessments available on easyCBM are based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum Focal Point Standards in Mathematics. In each grade, K - 8, you'll find a total of 30 progress monitoring measures: 10 aligned to each of the 3 main Focal Point standards for each grade level.The reading assessments available on the system are based on the 'Big Five' constructs of reading reported in the 2000 National Reading Panel report.
3. How much does your system cost?
The regular easyCBM progress monitoring assessment system (this website) is available for free, for teachers to use world-wide. Small schools may find that this system suits their needs just fine. However, in response to repeated requests from larger schools and districts looking for a system that will better fit with their district data use, we have developed an alternate version of easyCBM, called District easyCBM, that offers extended features for a small cost.In August 2009, we released this commercial version with additional features that make it more appropriate for school- or district-wide adoption. These features include different levels of user access (district administrator, building administrator, specialist assigned to more than one classroom, individual classroom teacher), automated student roster syncing, the ability to control the percentile ranks associated with the different levels of performance on the student graphs, classroom, building, and district-level reports, and a complete battery of screening / benchmark as well as progress monitoring assessments in reading and mathematics, grades K-8.
If you are interested in learning more about this commercial District easyCBM, please e-mail us at support@easycbm.com so we can send you more information.
Technical questions related to the use of the website
1. What if I forget my password?
Please click on the "Reset your Password" link on the login page of easyCBM.com. You will be asked to enter your Username. An email will be sent to the account you used when you first registered for the system to make sure you want to change your password (this feature prevents others from changing your password without telling you). Once you have confirmed that you want your password changed, a new temporary password will be sent to you via email. You can use this temporary password to log in and then re-set the password using the "Account" tab at the upper right hand side of your screen.2. Where's my login email?
The easyCBM system automatically creates and sends an email to the email address specified during account creation. In most cases users, will receive this email within a few minutes. In some cases, a spam filter may block this email. If an hour has passed and you have still not received the login email, please check your spam filter for the message. If this fails, set your filter to allow emails from: accounts@easycbm.com and use the 'reset your password' link.3. What web browser should I use for the best performance?
The easyCBM system has been engineered to provide high quality student progress monitoring while at the same time reducing teacher workload. Because there are many small differences between web browsers, we have carefully selected the ones that best accomplish our goals - delivering consistent high quality and ease of use. In some cases, users might have to download a new browser. We feel this inconvenience will be well rewarded: We can provide better support with a known browser. Although the easyCBM website will open with many browsers, it will only work properly using one of the recommended browsers.4. Why can't I simply get a booklet containing all the possible tests my students might be taking this year?
Although on the surface, it might sound like a good idea to have a single booklet with all possible test forms in it, the sheer number of tests makes this unworkable. To print out a single copy of each of the measures available on easyCBM would take over 2800 pages of paper.One final reason for not printing out entire paper versions of the assessments available on easyCBM is that we make revisions to the measures periodically, as we get additional information about how to improve them. If you depend on already-printed measures, you may find that you are no longer up-to-date with the latest enhancements.
5. How do I "Group" my students?
Sometimes, it is helpful to have sub-sets of your students grouped together so you can see how the whole group is doing when looking at the Group reports. When teachers work with multiple classes throughout the day or have students assigned to different levels of tiered instruction, this feature is particularly relevant.Students can be put into groups using the "Students" section of easyCBM. Create a new group by clicking the Add Group button, then assign students to that group by marking their corresponding checkboxes.
Ideally, you should only put students into the same group if you want all of them to take the same measures. This means that if you have a particular student who is the only one to whom you want to assign certain measures, then she should be alone in a unique group. You can create as many groups as you'd like, and a single student can be in multiple groups at the same time. The grouping feature affects how the data are clustered in the Groups screen of the Reports page.