Abstract. There are relatively few studies that evaluate the quality of progress
monitoring estimates derived from curriculum-based measurement of reading.
Those studies that are published provide initial evidence for relatively large
magnitudes of standard error relative to the expected magnitude of weekly
growth. A major contributor to the observed magnitudes of standard error is the
inconsistency of passage difficulty within progress monitoring passage sets. The
purpose of the current study was to evaluate and estimate the magnitudes of
standard error across an experimental passage set referred to as the Formative
Assessment Instrumentation and Procedures for Reading (FAIP-R) and two
commercially available passage sets (AIMSweb and Dynamic Indicators of Basic
Early Literacy Skills [DIBELS]). Each passage set was administered twice
weekly to 68 students. Results indicated significant differences in intercept,
weekly growth, and standard error. Estimates of standard error were smallest in
magnitude for the FAIP-R passage set followed by the AIMSweb and then
DIBELS passage sets. Implications for choosing a progress monitoring passage
set and estimating individual student growth are discussed