Curriculum-based assessment
A curriculum-based assessment measures a learner's current skills directly against the skills in a teaching curriculum, to show what they can already do and what to teach next.
In a curriculum-based assessment, the learner is tested on the actual skills that make up a curriculum or skill sequence, such as matching, labeling, following instructions, play, self-care or academic skills. Each skill is scored against a set criterion (for example, performed independently, performed with prompts, or not performed). The results show strengths and gaps in terms that link directly to teaching targets.
Because the assessment and the curriculum use the same skill list, the results lead straight into programming. A gap in an early skill can be targeted before more advanced skills that depend on it. Repeating the assessment over time also shows progress on the same measures. This makes curriculum-based assessment different from a developmental assessment, which compares the learner with age norms, even though the two can overlap.
The supervisor selects and interprets the assessment and decides which goals to write. RBTs may be asked to help by preparing materials, presenting test items exactly as written, recording responses, and helping summarize data. Following the assessment procedure precisely matters: giving extra prompts or extra tries can make a learner look more skilled than they are, which leads to goals that are too advanced.
Example and non-example
| Example | Using the clinic's skill-sequence checklist, an RBT presents items for following one-step instructions and records that the client follows 8 of 10 independently, which the supervisor uses to set the next targets. |
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| Non-example | A standardized test that reports a child's communication skills as equal to those of a typical 2-year-old is a developmental assessment, because it compares the child with age norms. |
Don't confuse it with
| Developmental assessment | Curriculum-based assessment measures skills against a teaching curriculum; developmental assessment compares skills with typical developmental milestones or age norms. |
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| Functional behavior assessment | Curriculum-based assessment identifies skills to teach; an FBA identifies why problem behavior occurs. |
Test yourself
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Question 1Which description best fits a curriculum-based assessment?
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C: It tests the client on the skills listed in the curriculum to be taught. A curriculum-based assessment tests the client on the skills listed in a teaching curriculum, so the results point directly to which skills in that curriculum to teach next.
- A: Comparing a score with same-age peers describes a norm-referenced assessment.
- B: Rating how often problem behavior occurs in situations is an indirect functional assessment method.
- D: Recording what happens before and after behavior describes ABC data collection, a descriptive functional assessment.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 2During a skills assessment, the written instruction for an item is "Touch the dog." The client does not respond. The RBT thinks the client might respond to "Where's the doggy?" What should the RBT do?
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B: Give the instruction as written and score by the assessment's rules. Assessment items must be presented exactly as written so that the results reflect the client's skills under the conditions the assessment describes. Changing the wording or helping makes the score inaccurate.
- A: Rewording until the client succeeds changes the item, so the score no longer means what the assessment intends.
- C: Pointing is a prompt; a prompted response cannot be scored as independent.
- D: Scores must reflect what the client did, not what the RBT believes the client knows.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 3A supervisor plans to give a client the same curriculum-based assessment again six months after the first one. What is the main reason for repeating it?
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A: To measure progress and update goals based on current skills. Repeating a skills assessment shows which skills the client has gained since the last one and which deficits remain, so goals can be updated.
- B: The function of problem behavior is identified through functional assessment.
- C: Changes in preference are checked with preference assessments.
- D: Session data are still needed to track each target between assessments.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task B.2 Skill assessments in content area B, Behavior Assessment, which is 8 of the 75 scored questions.