Criteria  and  Considerations  when  Determining  

Benchmark  Assessments  

 The  purpose  of  screening  tools  is  not  to  provide  detailed  information  about  each  individual  student.  Instead,  the  purpose  is  to  quickly  produce  immediately  actionable  data  about  a  

large  group  of  students.    

Ferriter,  Graham  &  Wight,  2013,  p.  63    Also  referred  to  as  screening  assessments,  benchmark  assessments  are  administered  to  all  students  school-­‐wide,  as  part  of  a  clearly  articulated  assessment  plan  (which  also  includes  the  use  of  diagnostic  and  progress  monitoring  assessments).  Administered  one  to  three  times  annually,  the  actionable  data  produced  by  benchmark  assessments  serves  to  flag  students  for  collaborative  conversation.    Although  some  benchmarks  can  provide  some  diagnostic  information,  it  needs  to  remain  clear  that  their  intent  is  to  identify  or  screen  students  for  further  investigation.    There  are  a  number  of  criteria  to  consider  when  determining  benchmark  assessments:    

1. Clear  connection  to  the  focus  of  the  school  or  the  collaborative  team  –  a  benchmark  must  align  with  the  focus  for  the  school  and  provide  data  that  directly  relates  to  what  is  being  addressed  in  collaborative  team  meetings.    

2. Efficient  administration  -­‐  a  benchmark  assessment  is  not  intended  to  be  intensive  or  comprehensive,  but  rather  to  screen  students  for  further  action.  As  such,  it  should  not  take  an  inordinate  amount  of  time  to  administer.  

 3. Fidelity  in  administration  –  a  benchmark  must  be  able  to  be  administered  with  fidelity,  ensuring  the  

assessment  process  is  clear  and  that  those  responsible  for  administration  have  the  necessary  skills  and  knowledge  to  deliver  assessments  accurately.  

 4. Ability  to  produce  clear,  coherent  data  for  teams  -­‐  a  benchmark  assessment  must  be  able  to  generate  

data  that  can  be  easily  disaggregated  to  give  an  overall  picture  of  student  achievement  that  can  help  guide  next  steps.  To  most  effectively  inform  conversations  in  a  collaborative  team  meeting,  data  must  be  easy  to  organize  and  easily  understood  to  be  of  the  greatest  use  for  the  team.  

 Other  considerations  could  include:    

1. Aligned  progress  monitoring  –  connected  to  progress  monitoring  assessments,  used  to  subsequently  monitor  students  for  whom  interventions  are  established    

2. Cost-­‐effective  –  cost  usually  needs  to  be  considered  by  schools,  both  in  relation  to  financial  commitment  (initial  and  ongoing  costs),  as  well  as  resource  commitment  (in  terms  of  staff  time  required  for  administration,  scoring  and  disaggregation  of  data)  

 3. Indicate  diagnostic  next  steps  –  although  not  a  core  function  of  a  benchmark  assessment,  some  

assessments  can  provide  diagnostic  information  to  indicate  areas  of  further  inquiry  or  resulting  intervention  for  students.