Psychology

Benchmarks/Progress Monitoring

Click HERE to download a sample parent letter in Word format.

Click HERE to view a list of schools participating in Universal Screening.

Click HERE to download an interactive Universal Screening Checklist.

Explanation of Benchmarks

Benchmark testing is the process of screening all students on essential skills predictive of later academic performance and should be completed three or four times per year (quarterly). It is most often recommended that testing occur three times per year. Preferably, the first Benchmark testing would occur during the last two weeks of September, the second Benchmark testing would take place in the middle of January and the third and final Benchmark testing would take place between the last week of April and first week of May. Ideally, school districts would cohere to this schedule in order to obtain standardized Norms for our students.

Benchmark testing should be administered in a standardized format, which often works best when the same group of individuals completes the testing for all three benchmarks. Benchmark testing should always be done at grade-level (i.e., third grade probes should only be administered to third grade students when collecting norms).

All students must be included in the Benchmark testing each of the three times. Benchmark goals increase over time, so a student who meets the beginning-of-year goal is not guaranteed to meet the middle or end-of-year goal. Screening all students at each time period will enable timely identification of students who are not continuing to progress in their academic development. Additionally, screening the entire school ensures the school or district a complete data set to evaluate how all students are responding to instruction.

The data collected from the benchmarks will establish ESU #1 norms. In order for schools to participate in ESU #1 norms, schools must adhere to the following expectations:

Follow standardization of administration
Administer tests within the specified time period (see above)
Cohere to scoring criteria
Ensuring that all students are test three times a year

Fall Benchmark
Conducted between September 17 - 28, 2007
Follow-Up Scoring and Data Entry at ESU #1 on September 28, 2007

Winter Benchmark
Conducted between January 14 - 25, 2008
Follow-Up Scoring and Data Entry at ESU #1 on January 25, 2008

Spring Benchmark
Conducted between April 21 - May 2, 2008
Follow-Up Scoring and Data Entry at ESU #1 on May 2, 2008

Back to ESU #1 Home Page


	Billie, Bobbi and Leah with Dr. Erica Lembke from the National Center on Progress Monitoring		Email Us! Billie Hightree-Sitzmann billieh@esu1.org Bobbi Hightree bjhightr@esu1.org Leah Moritz lmoritz@esu1.org

RtI Home Page Scientifically Based Interventions Interventions Reading Writing Math Benchmarks/Progress Monitoring Power Point Presentations and Handouts RtI Resources and Links Frequently Asked Questions Contact Us Workshops and Registration ESU #1 SPED Home Page ESU #1 Home Page		Benchmarks/Progress Monitoring Click HERE to download a sample parent letter in Word format. Click HERE to view a list of schools participating in Universal Screening. Click HERE to download an interactive Universal Screening Checklist. Explanation of Benchmarks Benchmark testing is the process of screening all students on essential skills predictive of later academic performance and should be completed three or four times per year (quarterly). It is most often recommended that testing occur three times per year. Preferably, the first Benchmark testing would occur during the last two weeks of September, the second Benchmark testing would take place in the middle of January and the third and final Benchmark testing would take place between the last week of April and first week of May. Ideally, school districts would cohere to this schedule in order to obtain standardized Norms for our students. Benchmark testing should be administered in a standardized format, which often works best when the same group of individuals completes the testing for all three benchmarks. Benchmark testing should always be done at grade-level (i.e., third grade probes should only be administered to third grade students when collecting norms). All students must be included in the Benchmark testing each of the three times. Benchmark goals increase over time, so a student who meets the beginning-of-year goal is not guaranteed to meet the middle or end-of-year goal. Screening all students at each time period will enable timely identification of students who are not continuing to progress in their academic development. Additionally, screening the entire school ensures the school or district a complete data set to evaluate how all students are responding to instruction. The data collected from the benchmarks will establish ESU #1 norms. In order for schools to participate in ESU #1 norms, schools must adhere to the following expectations: Follow standardization of administration Administer tests within the specified time period (see above) Cohere to scoring criteria Ensuring that all students are test three times a year Fall Benchmark Conducted between September 17 - 28, 2007 Follow-Up Scoring and Data Entry at ESU #1 on September 28, 2007 Winter Benchmark Conducted between January 14 - 25, 2008 Follow-Up Scoring and Data Entry at ESU #1 on January 25, 2008 Spring Benchmark Conducted between April 21 - May 2, 2008 Follow-Up Scoring and Data Entry at ESU #1 on May 2, 2008 Back to ESU #1 Home Page