Anonymous wrote:Haha! Benchmark assessments are crap, very hard, and not used as an indicator for success at our school. We are not even doing them this year as they were not an accurate representation of what a student could do, made the kids have nervous breakdowns and low self-esteem as they rarely passed, and made our data skew negatively.

PP can you describe what the Benchmark assessments are trying to assess, and what types of questions they ask?

Anonymous wrote:The district only requires Interim 2 (units 1-3) and Interim 3 (units 4 - 6). The Benchmark weekly, unit, and interim assessments are VERY hard. Many kids do poorly on them. We no longer use them for grades.

So it seems there are inconsistencies across mcps schools. Our school uses them for grades! And my kid has C’s on it

The district only requires Interim 2 (units 1-3) and Interim 3 (units 4 - 6). The Benchmark weekly, unit, and interim assessments are VERY hard. Many kids do poorly on them. We no longer use them for grades.

Anonymous wrote:What is the weekly assessment? I'm aware of the assessments offered 3 times per year (which they will not send home because they are confidential, according to our school). But what is the weekly assessment?

Just says unit 1 week 1 assessment, week 2 etc. they take it on paper so yes its sent home and its graded. Its basically a passage followed by multiple choice questions, about main idea, inferences, vocabulary etc

What is the weekly assessment? I'm aware of the assessments offered 3 times per year (which they will not send home because they are confidential, according to our school). But what is the weekly assessment?

We don't get his Benchmark reading assessment results - does your teacher just send home these results, or are you asking the teacher each time for the results?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haha! Benchmark assessments are crap, very hard, and not used as an indicator for success at our school. We are not even doing them this year as they were not an accurate representation of what a student could do, made the kids have nervous breakdowns and low self-esteem as they rarely passed, and made our data skew negatively.

The district requires a few of them, so the fact you aren't using them isn't helping your students at all. It's fine if you don't use the scores as grades, but they should be exposed to them so they are reading for the required ones.

*ready

Anonymous wrote:Haha! Benchmark assessments are crap, very hard, and not used as an indicator for success at our school. We are not even doing them this year as they were not an accurate representation of what a student could do, made the kids have nervous breakdowns and low self-esteem as they rarely passed, and made our data skew negatively.

The district requires a few of them, so the fact you aren't using them isn't helping your students at all. It's fine if you don't use the scores as grades, but they should be exposed to them so they are reading for the required ones.

Anonymous wrote:Can you ask the teacher which specific questions he is bombing so that you can help him with the skills he needs?She should be able to do this as teacher's have reports that break down the test by types of questions.

DC gets to bring the assessments home and what I have noticed is inconsistent performance. On one he will get a 100% and will bomb the next one. I am trying to work on the skills that he has trouble with when he bombs the assessment but he doesn’t seem to be having any issues with the skills when we practice at home. So i am a little lost

A few years back, they used MCLASS in ES which seemed reasonable if done correctly but no clue what Benchmark is...

Can you ask the teacher which specific questions he is bombing so that you can help him with the skills he needs?She should be able to do this as teacher's have reports that break down the test by types of questions.

OP here- i feel like my kid might be the only one bombing these assessments

That is weird because they are used at our school and grades are counted as well. Moreover, some random winter benchmark assessment in 2nd grade was used by mcps in the gifted and talented criteria as well. So yeah, they are used and counted

Haha! Benchmark assessments are crap, very hard, and not used as an indicator for success at our school. We are not even doing them this year as they were not an accurate representation of what a student could do, made the kids have nervous breakdowns and low self-esteem as they rarely passed, and made our data skew negatively.

My DC in 3rd grade bombs his weekly or so benchmark reading assessments sometimes despite having a high MAP R score. Any idea what to do?