Article Citation:
Colby D. Taylor,
Elizabeth B. Meisinger, and
Randy G. Floyd (
2016) Disentangling Verbal Instructions, Experimental Design, and Sample Characteristics: Results of Curriculum-Based Measurement of Reading Research. School Psychology Review: March 2016, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 53-72.
General Issue
Disentangling Verbal Instructions, Experimental Design, and Sample Characteristics: Results of Curriculum-Based Measurement of Reading Research
Colby D. Taylor ,
Elizabeth B. Meisinger , and
Randy G. Floyd
University of Memphis
Please address correspondence regarding this article to Colby D. Taylor, 7624 Dexter Grove Dr, Cordova, TN 38016; e-mail:
Article accepted by previous Editor
Colby D. Taylor is an early-career school psychologist practicing in the Memphis area. He is adjunct faculty at the University of Memphis, where he received his doctoral degree in school psychology. His research interests include the assessment of oral reading fluency and assessment in a response-to-intervention framework.
Elizabeth B. Meisinger is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Memphis, where she teaches courses on child development, statistics and research design, and interventions in school psychology. She received her doctoral degree in school psychology from the University of Georgia. Her research interests include the assessment of students with reading disabilities, the development of oral and silent reading fluency, and fluency-oriented reading interventions.
Randy G. Floyd is a professor of psychology at the University of Memphis. He received his doctoral degree in school psychology from Indiana State University. His research interests include the structure, measurement, and correlates of cognitive abilities and the process of professional publication.
Associate Editor: Mike Vanderwood
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.
Received: July 22, 2014; Accepted: June 1, 2015;
Copyright 2016 by the National Association of School Psychologists
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