Benchmark Fluency Assessment
1. When should I conduct benchmark assessments?
Generally, teachers assess students three times per year: fall, winter, and spring. Testing sessions are approximately 16 weeks apart. Each benchmark assessment has recommended testing periods (when you should test) and the testing season boundaries (when you can test). Testing outside the recommended dates results in less accurate comparisons to national norms.
2. If I tested outside the recommended testing windows, can I use benchmark assessment results to evaluate student reading?
Testing dates matter! If you administer a benchmark assessment to a student outside the recommended testing windows, be aware that the percentiles and competency levels are less accurate.
3. Can I Use Scores from Outside the Recommended Testing Window to Identify Students Who Need Intervention?
You can still use the student's words correct per minute (wcpm) score to determine if the student may need intervention in reading. Compare the student's score to the scores on a table linked below and note the percentile of the student's wcpm score. Consider carefully how close the student's testing date was to the recommended testing windows to analyze how accurate the percentage may be. If you estimate that the score is below the 40th percentile, the student may need intervention in reading.
4. Should I use the actual grade level passages when doing fluency assessment or should I use the instructional level?
Benchmark assessments provide a baseline score to see how a student scores compared to his peers—based on national norms for the student’s grade level, so educators usually assess the student on passages at the student’s actual grade level. However, some educators assess students at their instructional level if the students' instructional level is two or more years below grade level.
5. Can I use benchmark assessment scores to select the placement level for a student in Read Naturally?
No. Benchmark assessments can be good tools for determining whether a student should work in Read Naturally Live or Read Naturally Encore, but results from benchmark assessments are not appropriate for placement in Read Naturally. For information on placement, see: Read Naturally Strategy Programs/Placing Students FAQs.
6. How do I use to the Average Weekly Improvement (AWI) column in the Hasbrouck Tindal Table to Analyze Growth?
If you have a student's wcpm scores from two benchmark assessment testing seasons, you can evaluate that student's growth (wcpm) by comparing the student's average weekly improvement (AWI) to the average weekly improvement listed in the Hasbrouck-Tindal oral reading fluency chart. (AWI on this table represents the average number of words gained by students per week between the students' fall and spring wcpm scores.)
To calculate the student's AWI, divide the difference between two of the student's benchmark assessment wcpm scores by the number of weeks between testing sessions.
Use the row with the student's grade level, initial test score, and the initial testing season, to find the comparison AWI in the Average Weekly Improvement column on the table. If the student's AWI is greater than the AWI listed in the table, the student's scores indicate the student has improved relative to their peers.
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