Reaching Our Goals in the Classroom
At the core of every classroom in Granville Elementary School, teachers want to ensure students are learning and understanding new material. One of the tools the school uses to track academic progression is benchmark testing, which gives teachers an idea of how their students are performing in relation to grade level standards and expectations.
The benchmark tests are given three times per year in math and English language arts for every student. While the testing is important to gauge how students are progressing during the school year, Academic Intervention Services Reading Teacher Julia Rooney also credits benchmark testing with helping teachers better understand a student’s strengths and which areas can be improved. Rooney believes the test provides an opportunity for every teacher to adjust their lesson plans to better meet the needs of their students.
“The test provides an important insight into how our students are growing in response to our instruction,” said Mrs. Rooney. “Benchmarking gives teachers the ability to use that insight in their planning and instruction. We’re also able to analyze how current students are performing and see their individual results at previous grade levels. It helps us understand if one result is an outlier, or if there’s a reason to be concerned about a student academically.”
An example of a benchmark test is the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System, which is a test the school’s reading specialists use. It’s a one-on-one interactive evaluation that allows the student to read aloud and answer questions individually with their instructor. Having the opportunity to work individually with students to gauge their reading level allows teachers to answer a litany of questions.
“This test not only allows us to hear the student read and answer questions, but it also gives us additional insights into their unique communication style, reading habits, and personality,” said Mrs. Rooney. “It also helps us answer questions like is the student shy and unsure of themselves? Do they have trouble focusing while reading? Do they skip lines or have trouble remembering something they have read? Is the student holding the book too close to their face, and is their struggle with reading because they need glasses? There are so many factors that come into play.”
With students back in the classroom full time, teachers are noticing a return to normalcy when it comes to how their classes perform during the benchmark periods. Mrs. Rooney believes remote learning created bad habits for students, or “lazy learning” environments. However, teachers have been able to get their students on track now that they have returned to a traditional classroom environment.
“Students didn’t have the experience of interacting directly with their teachers, or have the chance to see how other classmates were doing with the same material. That adjustment period back to in-school learning is another factor in the analysis of the scores and in our teaching. I recently benchmarked a student who is now realizing that trying his or her best in school and being active in their learning is part of his or her responsibility. With the help from other teachers and everyone at Granville Elementary, we all worked together to help boost this student up to grade level standards. That’s a win not only for me, but for the student’s classroom teacher and for the supportive parents.”
Teachers also use the testing periods as a chance to walk their students through areas of improvement individually.
“The individual discussion with each student can be very powerful,” said Mrs. Rooney. “We can point out specific areas that they can focus on to help improve their next score. For all of the kids, we want to make sure they know how proud we are of them, regardless of the score. Ultimately, we want our students to know that the efforts they put in matter and we are on their team cheering for them.”
As a whole, Mrs. Rooney says benchmark testing is an opportunity for teachers and students to see all their hard work paying off.
“I love the feeling of seeing students improve, especially when they are the ones most proud of it.”