How are Benchmark Assessments different than State Assessments?

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Benchmark Assessments occur three times each school year: fall, winter, and spring.  The dates this school year for benchmark testing “windows” are Sept. 4-14, Jan. 9-17, and May 1-10.  All students in grades K-8 are given the benchmark assessments at their grade level.  High School students in grades 9 and 10 are given the 8th grade spring benchmark assessments.  Benchmark assessments provide teachers, administrators, and parents’ information to make decisions about growth and development of basic skills in reading and math (see below for a list of skills tested).  The tests are all timed.

State Assessments are given once per year in grades 3-8 and one grade level in high school.  A student can take the math and reading state assessments twice during their high school years, depending on their scores.  State Assessment windows vary for each subject but they generally occur between mid-February and the end of April.  (High school students sometimes also take them in the fall.) A detailed list of grade levels, subjects, and windows is available at http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=420.  State Assessments test subject matter content, vocabulary, and test-taking skills.  The reading state assessment is a comprehension test.  The tests are not timed.

What is AIMSweb?

AIMSweb is a benchmark and Progress Monitoring system based on direct, frequent and continuous student assessment, which is reported to students, parents, teachers, and administrators via a web-based data management and reporting system for the purpose of determining response to instruction.

What is Progress Monitoring?

Progress Monitoring is a continuous assessment, information management, and improvement reporting system designed for frequent monitoring of progress for students who need supplemental or intensive interventions. Based on individual goals, expected rates of progress are prescribed and compared to actual rates of progress, allowing for fine-tuning of instruction to maximize improvement.  Progress Monitoring is done weekly or every two weeks.

What skills are tested by AIMSweb benchmark assessments?

• R-CBM (reading fluency)
• MAZE (reading comprehension)
• M-COMP (math computational skills)
• M-CAP (math concept and application skills)

Early Literacy skills:

• LNF (letter name fluency)
• LSF (letter sound fluency)
• PSF (phoneme segmentation fluency)
• NWF (nonsense word fluency)

Early Numeracy skills:

• OCM (oral counting measure)
• NIM (number identification measure)
• QDM (quantity discrimination measure)
• MNM (missing number measure).