Disentangling Verbal Instructions, Experimental Design, and Sample Characteristics: Results of Curriculum-Based Measurement of Reading Research

Directions used in curriculum-based measurement of reading (CBM-R) currently ask students to "do your best reading." The purpose of this study was to examine whether varying these verbal directions would affect CBM-R performance and whether these alternative directions would influence the important relation between CBM-R performance and reading comprehension. Previous studies have varied in their findings, though they also varied in the alternative verbal directions they used and in their methodology. Third-grade students (N = 104) from two schools that differed in terms of their demographic characteristics were randomly assigned to one of two sets of direction conditions used in previous research. Results from a mixed between-subjects/within-subjects factorial analysis of variance found that, regardless of school setting, CBM-R performance was significantly influenced by one set of directions but not by the other set of directions. Possible methodologic explanations for these differences in results, as well as implications for practitioners, are discussed.