Pamela M. Stecker, Lynn S. Fuchs, Douglas Fuchs (2005) Using Curriculum-Based Measurement to Improve Student Achievement: Review of Research. Psychology in the Schools 42(8) 795-819.

“In general education, teachers who used class wide CBM data and recommendations for instructional planning effected greater growth among their students who exhibited a range of learning histories than did contrast teachers who used their own methods for progress monitoring and instruction. Part of these instructional recommendations, however, included implementation of PALS. Therefore, incorporation of PALS with CBM was studied systematically. Because PALS was associated with improved student achievement, PALS became another critical variable in the use of CBM, especially in general education classrooms. PALS appeared to enable teachers to accommodate academic diversity by providing a structure for instructing and practicing the particular skills individual students needed. CBM data and classwide feedback with recommendations facilitated teachers’ decision making regarding implementation of PALS. But one caveat remains: Although significant growth was generally robust across students of varying academic histories (i.e., high-, average-, and low-achieving students as well as students with disabilities), achievement gains were not uniformly large by student type. Therefore, the next generation of CBM applications must continue to examine instructional treatments systematically to develop the best combination of procedures for effecting growth across various types of learners.”