Why does the FastBridge Projection line look different than the current trend line?

The FastBridge trend line (also referred to as the Total Trend in PM reports) uses Ordinary Least Squares Regression (OLSR) to compute a line the fits the student’s progress monitoring scores. The line requires a minimum of 3 data points and is updated with each successive PM score. The line is extended to the goal date to provide an estimate of where the student will be by the goal date assuming her/his growth remains constant. Research shows that by around the 12^th week with at least 9 data points, the projected score based on the trend line is fairly accurate as long as the intervention remains the same.