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Dr. Christ is an Associate Professor of
Educational Psychology with the School Psychology
Program since 2005. He teaches courses in assessment and
research. Christ is eager to identify Ph.D.-level
students with overlapping interests; especially those
who intend to develop as researchers.
Dr. Christ is especially interested in
highly efficient and useful assessments and
interventions; especially those that are
computer/technology-based. Dr. Christ is also interested
in (a) the promotion, improvement, and evaluation of
school-based problem solving practices and data-based
decision-making; (b) measurement and assessment of
achievement and aptitude (with a focus data collection
for problem solving activities); (c) psychometrics and
data analysis to identify, develop and implement useful
instruments and practices within school-based settings;
(d) assessment linked intervention design and
implementation to prevent and remediate social and
academic problems, and (e) early intervention and
prevention of social and academic problems. These
interests are all aimed to promote and improve a
Response to Intervention model of service delivery.
Dr. Christ has published research on the
use and psychometric characteristics of Curriculum Based
Measurement (CBM) and Direct Behavior Ratings (DBR). He
is engaged in federally funded research and development
of assessment systems including Direct Behavior Ratings
(DBR) and Computer-Based Assessment System for Reading (CBAS-R).
Past (and potential future) research funded research and
development of the Curriculum-Based Measurement and
Subskill Analysis of Reading Fluency (SARF).
He serves on the review boards of School
Psychology Review, Journal of School Psychology,
School
Psychology Forum, and (ad hoc) School Psychology
Quarterly. Dr. Christ is 2009 Program Chair for Division
16 of the American Psychological Association (APA).
In 2008, Division 16 of APA presented
Dr. Christ with the Lightmer Witmer Award for
exceptional early career scholarship.
Selected peer refereed publications by Topic (N =
23ish)
Curriculum-Based Measurement (and Response to
Intervention)
Christ, T. J., & Ardoin, S. P. (in
press). Curriculum-based measurement of oral reading:
Passage equivalence and probe-set development.
Journal of School Psychology.
Christ, T. J., Scullin, S., Tolbize,
A., & Jiban, C. L. (in press). Implications of recent
research: Curriculum based measurement of math
computation. Assessment for Effective Intervention.
Ardoin, S. P., & Christ, T. J.
(2008). Evaluating curriculum based measurement slope
estimate using data from tri-annual universal
screenings. School Psychology Review, 37,
109-125.
Christ, T. J., & Coolong-Chaffin, M.
(2007). Interpretations of curriculum-based measurement
outcomes: Standard error and confidence intervals.
School Psychology Forum, 1, 75-86.
Christ, T. J., & Silberglitt, B.
(2007). Curriculum-based measurement of oral reading
fluency: The standard error of measurement. School
Psychology Review, 36, 130-146.
Christ, T. J., & Schanding, T.
(2007). Practice effects on curriculum based measures of
computational skills: Influences on skill versus
performance analysis. School Psychology Review, 36,
147-158.
Christ, T. J., & Vining, O. (2006).
Curriculum based measurement procedures to develop
multiple-skill mathematics computation probes:
Evaluation of random and stratified stimulus-set
arrangements. School Psychology Review, 35,
387-400.
Christ, T. J., Davie, J., & Berman,
S. (2006). CBM data and decision making in RTI contexts:
Addressing performance variability. Communique, 34,
29-31.
Hintze, J. M., Christ, T. J., &
Methe, S. A. (2006). Curriculum-based assessment.
Psychology in the Schools, 43, 45-56.
Wackerle, A. K., Boice, C. H.,
Christ, T. J., & Burns, M. K. (2006). Response to
intervention at NASP: Were 44 presentations enough?
Communique, 34, 20-21.
Christ, T. J. (2006). Short term
estimates of growth using curriculum-based measurement
of oral reading fluency: Estimates of standard error of
the slope to construct confidence intervals. School
Psychology Review, 35, 128-133.
Christ, T. J., & Poncy, B. C.
(2005). Guest editors' introduction to a special issue
on response to intervention. Journal of
Psychoeducational Assessment, 23.
Christ, T. J., Burns, M. K., &
Ysseldyke, J. (2005). Conceptual confusion within
response-to-intervention vernacular: Clarifying
meaningful differences. Communique, 34, 1-7.
Christ, T. J., Johnson-Gros, K., &
Hintze, J. M. (2005). An examination of computational
fluency: The reliability of curriculum-based outcomes
within the context of educational decisions.
Psychology in the Schools, 42, 615-622.
Gresham, F., Reschly, D., Tilly, W.
D., Fletcher, J., Burns, M., Christ, T. J., et al.
(2004). Comprehensive evaluation of learning
disabilities: A response-to-intervention perspective.
Communique, 33, 34-35.
Hintze, J. M., & Christ, T. J.
(2004). An examination of variability as a function of
passage variance in CBM progress monitoring. School
Psychology Review, 33, 204-217.
Hintze, J. M., Christ, T. J., &
Keller, L. A. (2002). The generalizability of CBM
survey-level mathematics assessments: Just how many
samples do we need? School Psychology Review, 31,
514-528.
Direct Behavior Ratings (and Response to
Intervention)
Chafouleas, S. M., Christ, T. J., &
Riley-Tillman, T. C. (in development for 2009). Special
Series: Direct Behavior Ratings and Response to
Intervention. Assessment for Intervention.
Chafouleas, S. M., Christ, T. J., &
Riley-Tillman, T. C. (in press). Generalizability and
dependability of scaling gradients on direct behavior
ratings. Educational & Psychological Measurement.
Riley-Tillman, T. C., Chafouleas, S.
M., Christ, T. J., Briesch, A. M., & LeBel, T. J. (in
press). The impact of item wording and behavioral
specificity on the accuracy of Direct Behavior Ratings (DBRs).
School Psychology Quarterly.
Chafouleas, S. M., Christ, T. J.,
Riley-Tillman, T. C., Briesch, A. M., & Chanese, J. A.
M. (2007). Generalizability and dependability of Daily
Behavior Report Cards to measure social behavior of
preschoolers. School Psychology Review, 36,
63-79.
Behavior Analysis (and Single Case Designs)
Everett, G. E., Olmi, D. J.,
Edwards, R. P., Tingstrom, D. H., Sterling, H. E., &
Christ, T. J. (2007). An empirical investigation of
time-out with and without escape extinction to treat
escape maintained noncompliance. Behavior
Modification, 31, 412-434.
Christ, T. J. (2007). Experimental
control and threats to internal validity of concurrent
and nonconcurrent multiple baseline designs.
Psychology in the Schools, 44, 451-460.
Christ, T. J., & Christ, J. A.
(2006). Application of an interdependent group
contingency mediated by an automated feedback devise: An
intervention across three high school classrooms.
School Psychology Review, 35, 78-90.
Albright, L., Cohen, A. I., Malloy,
T. E., Christ, T., & Bromgard, G. (2004). Judgments of
communicative intent in conversation. Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 290-302.
Selected chapters and book sections (N = 23)
Christ, T. J. (2008). Best practices
in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.),
Best practices in school psychology. (pp. 159-176
Bethesda, MD: National Association of School
Psychologists.
Hixson, M., Christ, T. J., &
Bradley-Johnson, S. (2008). Best practices in progress
monitoring. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best
practices in school psychology. (pp. 2133-2146)
Bethesda, MD: National Association of School
Psychologists.
Christ, T. J., & Hintze, J. M.
(2007). Psychometric considerations of reliability when
evaluating response to intervention. In S. R. Jimmerson,
A. M. VanderHayDen & M. K. Burns (Eds.), Response to
Intervention Handbook (pp. 93-105). New York:
Springer.
Selected presentations (N = 40)
Chafouleas, S. M., Briesch, A. M.,
Riley-Tillman, T. C., Christ, T. J., Kilgus, S. P.,
LeBel, T. J. (2008, August). Examining the
generalizability and dependability of direct behavior
rating (DBR). Poster presented at the annual
conference for the American Psychological Association,
Boston, MA.
Riley-Tillman, T. C., Chafouleas, S.
M. & Christ, T. J. (2008, February). The development
and technical adequacy of direct behavior ratings.
Paper presented at the annual conference for the
National Association of School Psychologists, New
Orleans, LA.
Ardoin, S., Carfolite, J. Christ, T.
J., Daly, E., & Roof, C. (2008, February). The true
test: Evaluating CBM data at the individual level.
Symposium presented at the annual conference for the
National Association of School Psychologists, New
Orleans, LA.
Davie, J., Ganuza, Z. & Christ, T.
J. (2008, February). The effects of exposure to
closed caption on reading performance. Paper
presented at the annual conference for the National
Association of School Psychologists, New Orleans, LA.
Scullin, S. & Christ, T. J. (2008,
February). A review of the features and technical
adequacy of informal reading inventories. Paper
presented at the annual conference for the National
Association of School Psychologists, New Orleans, LA.
Christ, T. J., Poncy, B. & Ardoin,
S. (2007, March). Generalizability and dependability
of CBM-R: SEM issues continued. Paper presented at
the annual conference for the National Association of
School Psychologists, New York, NY.
Christ, T. J. & Silberglitt B.
(2007, March). Annual growth for CBM-R is non-linear:
Benchmark estimates. Paper presented at the annual
conference for the National Association of School
Psychologists, New York, NY.
Davie, J. & Christ, T. J. (2007,
March). Estimates of CBM-R: Likely estimates of SEM.
Poster presented at the annual conference for the
National Association of School Psychologists, New York,
NY.
Grant related work
Computer Based
Assessment System for Early Reading (CBAS-R)
Principal investigator (funded by OSEP)
The purpose of this Phase I
project is to develop an automated computer-based
assessment system (CBAS) to evaluate the level and rate
of early reading development. The CBAS will integrate
the computer adaptive testing (CAT) and Adaptive Self
Referenced Assessment (ASRT) technology to facilitate
efficient and precise intervention-linked assessment
system.
The CBAS for early reading
development will integrate a sub-skills analysis
software program that will have applications to evaluate
the level and change of early reading profiles. The CBAS
will guide early intervention, prevention, and
remediation of early reading skill deficits. The
application will have significant applications for
students who are at risk or diagnosed with reading
disabilities. That automation and advanced psychometric
features of the CBAS will enhance the potential for
educators to use data to drive educational decisions and
provide effective interventions.
The following objectives
will be met in the course of CBAS development: (a)
develop a sub-skills hierarchy of early reading skills
to support CAT with a three parameter model in Item
Response Theory (IRT); (b) develop and summarize the
item and test characteristics of the sub-skill analysis
application of the CBAS; (c) develop and summarize the
item and test characteristics for the progress
monitoring application of the CBAS; (d) evaluate the
efficiency and utility of the CBAS for use within the
classroom setting; and (e) estimate the viability and
relative advantages of CAT and IRT within an educational
setting.
General education teachers,
special education teachers, reading specialists,
educational specialists (e.g., school psychologist,
speech and language pathologist), parents with children
identified with reading disabilities and/or deficits,
and students with and without identified reading
disabilities will participate in the CBAS project.
Project activities will include, (a) the development and
evaluation of a hierarchical organization of early
reading skills/sub-skills to guide the automated CAT
procedures, (b) development and calibration of a large
item bank (N = 1000-1500) to isolate deficits across
foundational early reading skills, (c) data analysis and
post hoc simulations to estimate CAT parameters, (d)
documentation of CBAS project outcomes in a series of
technical reports that will be summarized in a technical
manual, and (e) dissemination of the information and
CBAS materials (including product software) through
manuscripts, national presentations, and the CBAS
Project Web site.
The CBAS project will
result in the development of an formative assessment
tool of early reading development. The CBAS will be
developed specifically for use by teachers and
educational diagnostician to help develop and monitor
intervention effects. The novel application and
integration of computer hardware, software, reading
theory/research, CAT, and IRT will contribute to an
advanced early intervention instrument that will require
minimal teacher time and yield high quality data for use
during intervention design, implementation, and
evaluation. The project is also likely to yield new
information on the benefits, procedures, and
developments in CAT and IRT applications for early
academic assessment. The final product will be
disseminated to schools locally, regionally, and
nationally through the CBAS Web site.
Sub-skill Analysis of
Reading Fluency (SARF)
Principal investigator (funded by the University of
Minnesota)
The purpose of this project
is to develop a computer-based assessment system
entitled Sub-skill Analysis of Reading Fluency (SARF)
and examine early reading development within the primary
grades. Software will be developed to facilitate
efficient sampling and analysis of oral reading skills
among students (N= 300) in first through fifth grades.
The patterns of correctly and incorrectly read words
will be examined to identify common patterns among
students with and without learning disabilities. This
project will result in a flexible computer-based data
collection system that will facilitate ongoing research
on developmental reading patterns. Outcomes will yield
contributions to both the research literature and
professional practice.
Outcomes of the SARF
project will begin to establish the trends and profiles
of reading fluency sub-skill development for the later
primary grades. Moreover, the project will integrate
computer technology to vastly improve the collection,
integration, and use of data to evaluate reading
development. Outcomes will contribute to both research
and practice. At present, most curriculum based
assessment procedures do not measure reading sub-skills
efficiently. Some examples of sub-skill fluency
assessments include the Multilevel Academic Skills
Inventory (Howell, Zucker, & Morehead, 2000) and the
Qualitative Reading Inventory (Leslie & Caldwell,
1995). Both have the potential to yield useful
assessment outcomes to guide instruction, but the
procedures are cumbersome, time intensive, and difficult
to master. At present, there are no user-friendly
procedures for sub-skill analysis of reading fluency
skills. In the case of the SARF technology, educators
could listen to children read aloud from either
connected texts (stories) or words lists. Using simple
taps on a computer touch screen, the evaluator will be
able to examine and isolate deficits across a broad
range of sub-skills including phonetic patterns/skills,
orthographic patterns, rimes, word families, and word
fluency.
Project VIABLE
Co-principal investigator (funded IES)
The goal of Project VIABLE
is to develop the DBRC for use in progress monitoring
through 3 phases of investigation including 1)
foundations of measurement, 2) decision making and
validity, and 3) feasibility. In the first phase, issues
surrounding foundations of measurement (i.e.,
instrumentation and procedures) will be examined.
Questions regarding scale composition, wording of items,
frequency and duration of measurement, and length of
observation rating period will be examined. In the
second phase, questions related to both summative and
formative application will be addressed. For example,
criterion-related validity will be examined by comparing
DBRC data with data obtained via systematic direct
observation and rating scale methods. In addition,
sensitivity to change (i.e. in response to intervention)
of DBRC data will be investigated. In the third phase,
the feasibility of the DBRC for use by educators will be
examined through questions pertaining to training and
use, and perceived usability.
Background: An extensive
knowledge base exists with regard to establishing a full
continuum of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) practices
that can support all youth (Center on Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports; Gresham, Sugai, &
Horner, 2001; Sugai & Horner, 2005), however, the
technology for formative evaluation of individual and
specific behavioral response to those practices has not
kept pace. The importance of progress monitoring,
particularly for students exhibiting serious behavior
problems, cannot be overstated. Yet, a significant gap
exists regarding available tools for behavioral progress
monitoring that are empirically supported and, equally
important, feasible for use in applied settings.
Empirical attention to the development and validation of
viable formative measures of social behavior is
essential if we are to effectively evaluate the success
of positive behavior interventions put in place to
address challenging student behavior. This is designed
to systematically develop and empirically investigate
methods for formative measure of social behavior
involving a daily behavior report card (DBRC). Although
a number of additional terms have been used to describe
the DBRC (e.g., Daily Progress Report, Home School
Note), DBRCs involve brief rating of specified behavior
and then sharing that information with someone other
than the rater (Chafouleas, Riley-Tillman, & McDougal,
2002). For example, a DBRC might be created with a
Likert-type scale to assess disruptive behavior during
science instruction for a middle school student whereas
a scale with smiley faces could be used to assess “rest”
behavior in a group of preschool students. Such ratings
have been found to be widely used among educators (Chafouleas,
Riley-Tillman, & Sassu, 2005) and highly recommended for
use within a positive behavior supports framework
(Crone, Horner, & Hawken, 2004). Thus, it appears that
the DBRC may be a viable tool for providing ongoing
information about student social behavior.
Improving CBM Progress
Monitoring: Using Behavior Instead of Formulas
Co-principal investigator (Funded by Society for the
Study of School Psychology)
The purpose of this study
is to examine and improve the psychometric properties of
CBM progress monitoring instruments. The primary
research questions are: (a) Do passages with similar
levels of mean difficulty (i.e., student performances)
enhance progress monitoring outcomes as evidenced by
reduced levels of standard error, and (b) If not mean
difficulty, how should passage-sets be developed and
selected?
The Individuals with
Disability Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2005
allows for the use of a Response to Intervention (RTI)
model for identifying students with special education
needs. The adoption of RTI presupposes that there are
reliable and valid means to monitor a student’s progress
and assess his/her response to instruction.
Unfortunately, few assessment measures have been
designed to be repeatedly administered to a student in
order that progress can be continually assessed. Of even
greater concern is that no measure has been adequately
evaluated in an RTI model. However, one measure that is
promising and has received considerable attention is
Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in reading (Ardoin et
al., 2004; Deno, 2002; Fuchs et al., 1984). CBM involves
having students read one passage for one minute twice
weekly, while an examiner records student errors and
provides students with words on which they have
difficulty reading. The number of words students read
correctly in a minute (WRCM) are used to calculate
slopes of students gains/growth, which are compared to
standard rates of growth.
While the use of CBM in an
RTI model is promising, questions remain regarding
whether additional procedures can be taken to increase
the accuracy and reliability of slope estimates used to
evaluate a student’s response to intervention/progress.
Given recent research suggesting that readability
formulas fail to adequately predict students’ fluency on
a given passage (Ardoin et al., 2005), a likely primary
source of measurement error when monitoring progress
using CBM procedures in reading is the use of passages
not equivalent in level of difficulty. The primary
purpose of the proposed project is to evaluate an
alternative means of selecting equivalent level
passages.
April 2009 |
