Since easyCBM is an online system, easyCBM is accessible from any device with an internet connection.

There are basically three ways in which the easyCBM measures can be administered remotely. They vary in terms of how much control teachers have over the testing environment. As a result, they also vary in how much you can trust that the scores students receive accurately reflect their current knowledge and skill.

The three ways are discussed below, in order of most secure to least secure.

1. Teacher Administers Individually Using “Screen Share”
In this approach, both the teacher and the student need access to a computer/tablet with an internet connection and a camera.

The teacher uses screen sharing to make it possible for the student to see what they are being asked to respond to – in this way, it’s similar to placing a paper copy of the assessment in front of the student, reading the instructions, and then recording their responses.

For fluency-based assessments (LN, LS, SEG, WRF, PRF), the teacher can either use a paper copy of the assessment to record the student’s responses and then later log in to enter them on the system, or they can have a second device logged on to do the data entry using the “Item-Level Data” entry while the student is responding.

Prior to the session:
Download the Student Copy of the different measures you plan to assess and have them readily available on your computer.

Either print an Assessor Copy of each measure for each student you plan to assess or have another device (one the student will not be able to see) logged on to your teacher account in order to do the data entry as the student is responding.

2. Teacher administers in a Group Setting using an online video-conferencing system
(e.g., Zoom or GoToMeeting).

This approach is used for assessments designed for computer administration (VOC, BRdg, PRdg, and both Basic and Proficient Math), and resembles the way in which teachers would administer group tests in a computer lab or classroom setting. The main difference is that the teacher is
unable to walk around the room to make sure that students have selected the correct test
(both test type and their correct name from the list of students in their group).

Prior to the session:
Be sure that the online tests you want to administer have been
“activated” for your students. For Benchmark tests, this means that the Benchmark window
must be open. For Progress Monitoring tests, this means that you have “assigned” the test
form to the group of which the student is a part.

The teacher and students all log on to the same video conferencing system and then go to
the easyCBM site. Students log on using the Student Portal while the teacher logs
on using the Teacher Portal. The teacher guides students through the process of selecting
their group, their name, and the test they are supposed to take and then monitors
students while they complete the test(s) online.

Expert Tip: The teacher can monitor their students’ progress through the test by going to
“Reports/ Group/ Test Name” and refreshing their screen every few minutes. As
students complete the test and teachers refresh their screen, they will be able to see how
many students have completed the test by checking the table and/or Summary bar graph
that will open up when a particular test is selected from the list.

3. Teacher Assigns the Tests to Students; Students Complete Them Without Teacher
Supervision

In this approach, the student needs access to a computer/tablet with an internet connection.
Fluency-based assessments will require the assistance of a parent/guardian. For the
computer-based assessments (Voc, BRdg, PRdg, Math), teachers can either ask
students to complete the tests on their own (honor system) or can recruit parents to proctor
the tests and verify that the student completed them without assistance.

For fluency-based assessments (LN, LS, SEG, WRF, PRF), the teacher emails PDFs of
both the Student and Assessor Copy of the assessments that will be administered to the
parent/guardian who will be administering the assessments. The parent/guardian administers
the assessment, marking the Assessor copy of the PDFs just as would be done by an
assessor at school. They then email a picture or scan of the Assessor Copy PDF back to the
teacher, who enters the item-level data into the easyCBM system

For computer-administered assessments (Voc, BRdg, PRdg, Math), students
log on to the easyCBM system using the Student Portal, select their Group,
select their name, and the test they are to complete, then work their way through the test,
just as they would if they were taking it at school.

Prior to the session:
Be sure that the online tests you want to administer have been
“activated” for your students. For Benchmark tests, this means that the Benchmark window
must be open. For Progress Monitoring tests, this means that you have “assigned” the test
form to the group of which the student is a part.

Expert Tip: Because this approach is more susceptible to cheating, teachers might want to
make a note on the students’ file (by creating an Intervention and document instruction was remote).

Things to consider when taking remote online tests

• Ratio of teaching/learning days to testing days. The easyCBM assessments are intended
to be used to monitor the progress students make over the course of the year as they
receive instruction. Should school closures disrupt students’ opportunity to learn, maintaining
the same testing schedule may not make sense. Teachers might need to adjust the
frequency of the assessments to fit students’ learning opportunities.

• Fluency tests (e.g., LS, WRF, PRF) need to be administered one-on-one by someone
trained in how to administer and score such measures. It is possible for parents/guardians to
administer these tests under the direction of the child’s teacher. In this scenario, the person
administering the test would send the results to the teacher, who would then enter the data
in easyCBM.

• UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should teachers share their log-in credentials with
parents/guardians. easyCBM data falls under the same FERPA regulations as
teachers’ grade books, and it’s important that access to student data is limited to those
people who have a legitimate right to see those data.