Different AIMSweb assessments are found to be more consistent with different components of the CCSS.
Assessments are found to be either..
Consistent; meaning there is a clear relation between what is assessed when schools use CBM and what academic skills are deemed important to gauge in the CCSS
Complementary; meaning that the use of CBM supports decisions that are related to essential judgments regarding attainment of the CCSS, but uses testing tools and practices that answer different questions that one would expect with respect to assessment of the CCSS
Consistency with CCSS K-5 Reading Standards: High & Most Consistent
AIMSweb Maze is consistent with the CCSS Reading Standards
AIMSweb CBM's focus on basic skills assessment, and in particular reading
AIMSweb early literacy measures, Letter Naming, Phonemic Segmentation, Letter Sounds, and Nonsense Words are consistent with CCSS:
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational text independently and proficiently
With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for Grade 1
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry at the high end of grades 4-5 text complexity and band independently and proficiently
**AIMSweb's R-CBM is less consistent with Reading Standards for Informational Text K-5 because AIMSweb reading tests are based on passages that are narrative or literature text.
AIMSweb's Relatability to CCSS for Speaking and Listening: Communication and Collaboration & Language: Conventions, Effective Use, and Vocabulary: Not Directly Related
Most of these skills are discrete and very specific skills that reflect Mastery Monitoring (MM) more than general outcomes assessed by CBM
Language Standards K-5, Conventions of Standard English at the end of Grade 1:
Demonstrate the command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing (i.e., capitalize dates and names of people, use end punctuation for sentences, use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series, use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patters and for frequently occurring irregular words, spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions)
**These are components of general outcomes, and they are NOT AIMSweb CBM's primary focus. **AIMSweb CBM is inconsistent with these standards
In Conclusion....
It is crucial for instructional and assessment practices to align with Common Core State Standards
Testing practices must be consistent with CCSS
AIMSweb CBM's are consistent with intended audience
Critical Reception from Hanover Research (Review of Literacy Progress Monitoring tools): "One experimental study found that AIMSweb may be a more effective and reliable predictor of student reading achievement than the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). However, the authors also caution that there remains a significant area for improving and validating the reliability of reading assessment tools."
Reliability/Validity:
Recommended to submit tests to an outside vendor for checking and reporting because this is the most reliable way to score tests objectively
This eliminates the chance of error that could occur if done on-site, which makes the report more valid
What does this mean? The criticism of the fact that AIMSweb is not 100% consistent with the Common Core standards, and the fact that there is room for improvement of the reliability of this assessment tool shows that this assessment can be enhanced for the benefit of the students.
Our personal opinion... After further research and interviews, we have come to the consensus that overall AIMSweb has more benefits than negatives. AIMSweb helps teachers become more effective and efficient in the classroom, which leads to better outcomes for the students. Even though there are some downsides, including the amount of paper work, the cost, the fact that it doesn't correlate with other testing, and the correlation is not completely consistent with the Common Core State Standards, overall it is a valuable tool because of the tiered assessment and instructional framework.