Considerations for Remote Progress Monitoring with FastBridge

As school districts across the United States consider ways to maintain instruction when school closure is needed due to the COVID-19 virus or other issues. Users may wonder how to maintain the use of the FastBridge measures when students work from home. This document provides information about how to conduct progress monitoring with FastBridge assessments when both students and teachers may be working remotely.

Factors to Consider

The following questions are important to ask as you think about whether to conduct progress monitoring using distance-based methods.

•  What are the benefits? The primary benefit of conducting ongoing progress monitoring is that you will have continuous data for students who are still able to participate in an intervention virtually.

1. 1. 1. Such monitoring can be used with students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

•  What are the limitations? There are two limitations worth noting:

1. 1. 1. It is possible that not all students will be able to participate in the progress monitoring due to limited access to computer equipment, internet, or family assistance.
      2. The modifications necessary to accommodate distance-based administration could affect scores, increasing variation and error.

 Procedures

For schools that decide to conduct progress monitoring using distance methods, there are two main procedural details to address.

•  Test Validity.  Test scores should be compared to norms and benchmarks only if the assessments are administered following standardized instructions. Ensure that the assessments are administered as close as possible to the standardized directions.
•  Choice of Tests. Certain FastBridge assessments are online, and so students with a device and internet access can complete these assessments from home as long as they are made available to them by the school or district FastBridge manager. Other FastBridge assessments require a teacher to download student forms and administer the assessment directly to the student. The assessment formats will determine the necessary procedures for distance-based screening. Here is a summary of FastBridge^® progress monitoring assessments by administration format.

*This assessment is in Lab Status; ⁺This assessment requires regular observations during classroom instruction and is not appropriate for virtual formats.

To learn more about using remote FastBridge progress monitoring see these articles

Remote Progress Monitoring with Computer-Administered FastBridge Assessments

Remote Progress Monitoring with Teacher-Administered FastBridge Assessments