Assessments produce data that measure academic achievement. The information that you compile is used to paint a picture of the student’s skills. What skills you are measuring, when you measure the skills, how you measure them, and why you measure really determine what type of assessment is being administered.
When a benchmark score reveals that a student has fallen behind that student is identified as a candidate for progress monitoring. Progress monitoring is not based on national scores and averages but on the student's last data. Tailored toward a specific purpose and specific skills it should occur frequently and be followed up with targeted intervention based on the results. Progress monitoring allows teachers to hone in on skill deficits early enough in the year to effectively get a child back on the grade level expectation and achievement track. Progress monitoring should be conducted at the student’s instructional level not their grade level and increased as the student improves. It helps to keep an ongoing tab of any gains or discrepancies a student may have. Progress monitoring measures growth and helps to determine the next course of action which may be referral to a more intensive intervention such as a reading specialist or to stop monitoring because the student is demonstrating proficiency.
Teaching and learning occurs continuously throughout the school year, so it is necessary to take snapshots of what a student has learned that reveals if the student is still on target. That is what benchmarks do. Benchmarking gives educators an indication of a student’s current skill performance. Benchmarks are a type of learning checkpoint that can raise red flags for teachers concerning the child’s achievement. It is a test that measures every student at the same time using the same method, assessing the new grade level skills being taught. Benchmarks are given to the entire school three to four times a year regardless of their current academic achievements. It is based on national scores, averages, and research-based norms and provides information about which child is academically at-risk.
Benchmarks are given at the beginning of the year, in the middle of the year, and at the end of the year. Progress monitoring can occur daily, weekly, or monthly. Benchmarks say to the teacher: "This is what I know." Progress Monitoring says: "This is what I need." Using this data is the new mandate to measure accountability. A teacher will use the data from the progress monitoring and benchmarks and any other test results to analyze the student’s progress and then tailor or differentiate instruction to help students reach the intended goal.