Narrative Language Measures (NLM) Subtest

The CUBED-3 includes the Narrative Language Measures (NLM) subtests, which assess pre-k through eighth grade students’ abilities to understand and use both oral and written academic language. The NLM subtests, NLM Listening and NLM Reading, were designed to accurately identify students whose academic language places them at risk for experiencing other academic problems. The NLM also directly informs comprehension instruction and meets all of the psychometric requirements of a GOM, filling a major gap found in most reading general outcome measures.

The NLM subtests of the CUBED-3 have three major purposes: 

1. Benchmark Screening. NLM Benchmark passages are to be used for screening three times per year – beginning, middle, and end of year. For screening purposes, the academic language of all students within a district, school, or grade level should be assessed.
2. Progress Monitoring. The NLM Listening and NLM Reading were also designed to monitor students’ language growth over time. Language progress monitoring helps educators detect whether adequate progress is being made, and to identify what type of instructional modifications are necessary.
3. Intervention Planning. The NLM subtests can serve as a basis for intervention planning. The results can provide information on the integration of receptive and expressive language, reading fluency, reading comprehension, use of complex linguistic structures, and the ability to infer the meaning of complex vocabulary in a standardized, efficient, and valid manner.

 

Why the emphasis on language?

Most U.S. students do not understand grade level reading material. To battle this, there has been a primary focus on students’ decoding ability. This is only part of the picture. Only 20% of students need targeted decoding support but 60-80% of students would benefit from an increased emphasis on language. Informed by extensive empirical research, the CUBED-3 represents advancements in language assessment that allows educators to accurately, reliably, and efficiently measure all critical dimensions of literacy: Language, decoding, and their product, reading comprehension.

The NLM offers a valid measure of language and reading comprehension

Many current general outcome measures used to identify early reading comprehension difficulties in young students have two major flaws; (1) They do not focus on language comprehension at all for young students, which is a major component of the simple view of reading, and (2) They do not sufficiently meet all of the psychometric requirements for general outcome measurement. In contrast, the CUBED-3 accurately and reliably assesses comprehension through listening and reading retells from the NLM subtests. Comprehension questions probe students’ vocabulary and interference skills. Scores are compared to benchmark standards for screening and tracking progress over time.

Measure progress with confidence!

Each story within grade level has the same story grammar construction and complexity, the same number of words, the same number, type, and position of adjectives and adverbs, the same number of non-overlapping tier-2 (less common) words, the same number of additive, adversative, and temporal coordinating conjunctions, the same number, type, and position of temporal and causal subordinate clauses, the same number of appositives, the same Lexile score range, and a similar MLU. What does this mean for you? Accuracy when measuring student progress over time!

Details of the NLM Subtests of the CUBED-3

NLM Reading Subtest (Grades 1-8)* The NLM Reading is designed to measure decoding fluency (rate and accuracy), reading comprehension, and writing. The updated CUBED-3 NLM includes reading benchmark assessments for first grade through eighth Grade (progress monitoring for older grades coming soon). Students are asked to read to a brief narrative passage, and then retell that narrative. First and second grade NLM Reading passages include an initial decodable section that allows for the measurement of decoding fluency. Narrative retells incorporate reading and listening comprehension, cognition, memory, and expressive language skills. Like the NLM Listening, scoring takes place in real-time. Additional sections of the NLM Reading allow for the examination of story grammar comprehension, inferential word learning or word use, and inferential reasoning. A personal writing generation can also be elicited to monitor a student’s written language.

*NLM Reading benchmark assessments available for grades 1-8. NLM Reading progress monitoring assessments are currently only available for grades 1-3. 

NLM Listening Subtest (Grades PreK-3) The NLM Listening is designed to measure a student’s ability to comprehend and produce complex, academic language. Reading comprehension and language comprehension are foundationally the same construct, thus, oral language comprehension can be used as a proxy measure for reading comprehension. The NLM Listening also measures a student’s ability to comprehend and produce complex language that is reflective of written language. Students are asked to listen to a brief narrative, and then retell that narrative. Narrative retells incorporate listening comprehension, cognition, memory, and expressive language skills. Scoring takes place in real-time. Additional sections of the NLM allow for the examination of story grammar comprehension, inferential word learning or word use, and inferential reasoning. A personal story generation can also be elicited to monitor a student’s expressive language. Preschool is also available in Spanish on both digital and on paper/pencil versions.