Hi! For the last 5 years (or so) we have been devising early mathematics assessments and interventions that we have used in Response-to-Intervention (RtI) research. We have learned a lot, thanks to teachers and administrators who have worked with us. When we make presentations at conferences, we are often asked, “When will you have something for us to use?” We have said, “Soon.” Now we can say, “Now!” We have assessment instruments for Grades K-3 available and will have interventions for Grades 1 and 2 in about a year (2011), and interventions for Grades K and 3 in about a year after that. PUT NAME OF TESTS HERE             The assessment instruments include the following:             FWS (Fall/Winter/Spring) Checks. These measures are intended to be administered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring to (a) identify students who fall below the cut score (sometimes called Benchmark) and who could benefit from supplemental interventions, and (b) monitor student's progress at the end of each trimester.             Intervention Checks – Once students are identified for intervention, you can use these checks to monitor progress every 2 weeks (or so). Some teachers like to give these checks to all of their student to monitor progress in numerical fluency and problem solving. FAQs – Questions that are frequently asked about the assessment instruments. How to access the measures: If you want to use the assessments, you can do so free of charge. Simply click here to fill out an order form, and we will send you a CD in July 2010. Included on the CD will be PDF copies of the assessment instruments, instruction manuals, training presentations, and a scoring/report program. There is no charge, but we ask that you share your test results with us. In that way, we can create national cutoff points (e.g., 25th, 35th percentiles). We would also like your feedback as to the extent to which the measures assess your state’s identified mathematics concepts and skills.             We know you will have questions. Feel free to email us at ContactBRBryant@aol.com (Brian) or ContactDPBryant@aol.com (Diane) for answers to your questions. We have three goals in mind: 1.       To help students succeed in mathematics. 2.      To help teachers better meet the needs of their struggling students. 3.      To learn more about how to do 1 and 2 above/ We invite you to join us in our efforts. About the Test of Early Mathematics Efficiency-Math Procedures/Concepts (TOEME-P/C) As with the TOEME-D/M, the TOEME-P/C has four levels, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3. For all levels, there is a Cinceotual Understanding test. For Grades 1, 2, and 3 there is also a Procedural Understanding test and a Conceptual Applications test. Kindergarten - 3 Response Choices Conceptual Understanding (Grades K-1) What we measure: Conceptual Understanding assesses a child’s ability to listen and pay attention as items are read aloud, access their mathematics knowledge, examine the stimulus prompt, survey the response choices for the correct answer, and connect two dots (Kindergarten and Grade 1) to mark the answer. Students who do well on Conceptual Understanding exhibit skills across the broad array of the NCTM Content Standards in the early math curriculum. Students who do poorly may have difficulty with all of the skills or may exhibit strengths and struggles across abilities. How we measure: There are three practice items that students solve one at a time. The first item is designed to show students how to mark their answer sheet by connecting two dots or filling in the oval. Remaining practice items are designed to familiarize students with the format of the test. Teachers read aloud each test item as students follow along in their test booklets. Teachers proceed briskly through the test, allowing only about 10 to 15 seconds for the students to respond after the item has been read to them. Students are given more time for some items on the test; these items are marked on the instructions. Pacing is important. Do not wait for all students to mark their booklets. Examiners should proceed in a brisk fashion. Typically, students either know the answer or they don’t. Allowing long periods of time to pass between items frustrates the stronger students and does little to help struggling students. What we ask students to do: Students have to listen carefully as the teacher reads the items because the items are not repeated in their entirety. Students also have to keep their place in the booklets to ensure that they mark the appropriate item. Students view stimulus items and response choices and must be able to connect two dots or fill in an oval to mark their answer. Students also must be able to turn pages with some degree of facility and make sure they are on the right page. Grade 1: 4 Response Choices Grade 2-3: 5 Response Choices Conceptual Understanding (Grades 2-3) What we measure: Conceptual Understanding assesses a student’s ability to listen and pay attention as items are read aloud by the eaminer or read silently by the examinees (at the discretion of the examiner), access their mathematics knowledge, examine the stimulus prompt, survey the response choices for the correct answer, and fill in an oval to mark the answer. Students who do well on Conceptual Understanding exhibit skills across the broad array of the NCTM Content Standards in the early math curriculum. Students who do poorly may have difficulty with all of the skills or may exhibit strengths and struggles across abilities. How we measure: There are twopractice items that students solve one at a time. The first item is designed to show students how to mark their answer sheet by filling in the oval. The remaining practice item is designed to familiarize students with the format of the test. Two options exist for test administration. If the examinees have difficulty with reading, the examiner can read aloud each test item as students follow along in their test booklets. Examiners proceed briskly through the test, allowing only about 10 to 15 seconds for the students to respond after the item has been read to them. Students are given more time for some items on the test; these items are marked on the instructions. Pacing is important. Examiners should not wait for all students to mark their booklets; they should proceed in a brisk fashion. The other administration option is to ahave the students read the items and respond by filling in the oval. After about 20 minutes, check progress. If only a few students have not finished, end testing and finish with the other studnets later. What we ask students to do: When the examiner reads aloud the items, students have to listen carefully as the teacher reads the items because the items are not repeated in their entirety. Students also have to keep their place in the booklets to ensure that they mark the appropriate item. Students view stimulus items and response choices and must be able to fill in an oval to mark their answer. Students also must be able to turn pages with some degree of facility and make sure they are on the right page. In the other administration option, students need to be able to read each item and respond appropriately.   About the Test of Early Mathematics Efficiency-Diagnostic/Monitoring (TOEME-D/M), Grades K and 1  The TOEME-D/M has four levels, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3. For Grades K and 1, there are four separate timed subtests that take 2 minutes each to complete. For Grades 2 and 3, there are four separate timed subtests that take 2 minutes each to complete and one test, Word Problems, which takes 10 minutes to complete. Because the measures are timed, they could be considered fluency measures. Grades 1, 2, and 3 Procedural Understanding (Grades 1, 2, and 3 only) What we measure: Procedural Understanding assesses arithmetic calculation and involves several skills: recognizing numerals; recognizing operational signs (plus, minus for Grade 1; plus, minus, times, and divide for Grades 2 and 3); computing (addition, subtraction for Grade 1; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division for Grades 2 and 3). How we measure: Students look at arithmetic problems on a page, compute the solution to each problem, and write their answer. What we ask students to do: We ask students to pay attention and do their best to compute and write their answer. Students also are asked to use a pencil in order to write the answer, turn pages of a booklet, and listen to and follow directions Grades 1, 2, and 3 Conceptual Applications (Grades 1, 2, and 3 only) What we measure: The Conceptual Applications test assesses arithmetic calculation in an applied context (stories) and involves several skills: reading the problem; recognizing numerals and/or numerals presented as words; knowing what operation to use in problem solving; and, for some items, ignoring extraneous information.  How we measure: Students look at and read a short story problem -- e.g., Nan has 3 bugs. Nan gets 2 more bugs. How many bugs does Nan have in all? They then read and respond to multiple choice questions pertaining to each story -- e.g., Which one tells the story? a. 1 + 3 b. 1 + 2 c. 3 - 2 d. 3 + 2 Students fill in the oval that goes with their answer. What we ask students to do: We ask students to pay attention and do their best to read the story and compute and mark their answer. Students also are asked to use a pencil in order to mark the answer, turn pages of a booklet, and listen to and follow directions.  Quantity Comparisons (Kindergarten and Grade 1) What we measure: Quantity Comparisons involves a variety of skills: numeral recognition and knowledge (0 through 20 in kindergarten, 0 to 99 for first graders; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students); quantity recognition; place value; “same as, less than, greater than”; and the ability to handle a pencil in order to draw a circle or loop, turn pages of a booklet, and listen to and follow directions. Also, students must sustain attention and be able to track across columns and avoid skipping rows as they work. How we measure: Students look at two numbers that appear side-by-side in a box in their student booklet (a vertical dotted line separates the two numbers). As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes by circling the bigger of the two numbers or circling both numbers if they are the same (equal). Strategic Counting (Kindergarten and Grade 1) What we measure: Strategic Counting imbeds several skills: numeral recognition and knowledge, counting ahead or counting back (most items are 0 through 20 in kindergarten, 0 through 99 in Grade 1; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students), place value, and “less than and greater than.” How we measure: Students look at a three-number or five-number sequence; one number of the sequence is missing and is represented by a blank. The missing number may be the first number in the sequence, the second number, or the third number. Some items involve skip counting. In Kindergarten and Grade 1, the student then looks at four possible response choices, in boxes below the stimulus series, and circles the answer. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Number Recognition (Kindergarten Only) What we measure: Number Recognition involves a variety of skills: numeral recognition and knowledge (most items are 1–20; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students), place value, and sequence. How we measure: Students look at rows of circles, squares, or triangles, up to five per row, and count the number of shapes they see. The student then looks at four possible response choices, below the stimulus shapes, and circles his or her answer. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Quantity Recall (Kindergarten Only) What we measure: Quantity Recall involves a variety of skills, including the ability to: see and recognize numerals, recognize quantity immediately (a skill known as subitizing), or count ahead to 6. Some larger numbers are added at the end to challenge more able students. How we measure: Students look at dots on a domino, ranging from 1 to 6 dots. The student then looks at six possible response choices: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, in boxes below the stimulus item, and circles the number that corresponds to the number of dots shown. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Quantity/ Numeral Correspondence (Grade 1) What we measure: This test involves: counting groups of dots on dice to determine the total number of and identifying the numeral that matches the number of dots. Recognizing number representations (e.g., configuration of dots) counting by a certain quantity (e.g., by 5's, 10's), and place value are additional skills involved in this subtest. How we measure: Students count a series of dots to determine the total count (Most items are 1 to 99; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students). They identify and circle the numeral that matches the quantity. Calculation Facts (Grade 1) What we measure: Calculation Facts assess basic math facts and involves several skills: recognizing numerals, recognizing operational signs (plus and minus in Grade 1, plus, minus, multiplication, and division in Grades 2 and 3), and computing (addition and subtraction Grade 1; multiplication and division problems added in Grade s 2 and 3). How we measure: Students look at math problems on a page and then compute and write the answer to each problem. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Grade 1 Mental Number Line (Grades 2 and 3) What we measure: Mental Number Line involves a variety of skills: numeral recognition and knowledge (0 through 999 for Grade 2, 0 through 9999 for Grade 3; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students); quantity recognition; place value; and “less than and greater than.”    How we measure: Students look at a number that appears in a box in their student booklet. Below the number are four other numbers. Students are told to circle, from among the four response choices, the number that is closest to the stimulus number “along a mental number line.” As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes.   Strategic Counting (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3) What we measure: Strategic Counting imbeds several skills: numeral recognition and knowledge, counting ahead or counting back (most items are 0 through 999 in Grade 2, and 0 through 9999 in Grade 3; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students), place value, and “less than and greater than.” How we measure: Students look at a three-number or five-number sequence; one number of the sequence is missing and is represented by a blank. The missing number may be the first number in the sequence, the second number, or the third number. Some items involve skip counting. In Grades 2 and 3 students write their answer as a numeral. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Place Value (Grade 2) What we measure: Place Value involves several skills: see the stacks of hundreds, tens and ones; recognize the quantity represented by the stacks and written numerals; and write a numeral. Numbers range from 1 to 999 for second grades; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students.    How we measure: For Grade 2, students look at stacks of hundreds, tens, and ones and write how many there are in all. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Calculation Facts (Grades 2 and 3) What we measure: Calculation Facts assess basic math facts and involves several skills: recognizing numerals, recognizing operational signs (plus, minus, multiplication, and division), and computing (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems). How we measure: Students look at math problems on a page and then compute and write the answer to each problem. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Place Value (Grade 3) What we measure: Place Value primarily involves two skills, reading written numerals and writing a numeral. Numbers range from 1 though 9999 for third graders; larger numbers are placed at the end to challenge more able students.    How we measure: For third grade, students read a number (e.g., three thousand two hundred twenty-seven, identify “how many,” and write their answer below the written representation of the number. As a fluency measure, the test is designed to see how many items the student can answer correctly in 2 minutes.