Explicit Timing Variations in Curriculum-Based Measurement of Written Expression Administration

The majority of elementary and secondary school students across the United States fail to meet grade-level standards for written expression. Curriculum Based Measures in Written Expression are designed to identify and track the progress of struggling writers. Researchers have identified a number of modifications to Curriculum Based Measures in Written Expression administration that increase validity and reliability including the length of writing time, type of prompt, and method of scoring. One area that has not been explored is the timing procedure used during administration. Explicit timing procedures (i.e., telling students the time limit, displaying the time remaining, breaking up the session into short intervals) could be applied to WE-CBM administration to improve student performance. The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of two variations of explicit timing on student writing production and fluency and to explore the interaction between the explicit timing procedures and the duration of WE-CBM administration.Writing samples were collected from seventh and eighth grade students. The students were exposed to two of the four combinations of explicit timing and activity duration. Results indicate no significant differences in writing production between explicit timing conditions. Furthermore, no significant interaction between explicit timing conditions and writing activity duration was found. Average writing rate per minute was significantly lower when students were participating in a longer duration activity, regardless of explicit timing condition. Results of the social validity survey suggest that students prefer not to be timed. However, responses suggest that students found time-remaining prompts to be somewhat helpful and not distracting. Limitations, areas for future research, and implications for researchers and educators are discussed.