What to Do with Benchmark Data

Spring break is right around the corner--which means, for many schools, that it's almost time for the big push before state testing. Most schools are administering benchmark tests to gauge student progress leading into the state tests.

Like it or not, benchmark testing has become a necessary evil in today’s high-stakes testing culture. School leaders hear all the complaints: testing wastes valuable instructional time; some of the questions on the benchmarks aren’t aligned to the ones on the actual state test; the students don’t take the benchmark tests seriously.

These complaints may be valid, but there are many real benefits in periodic benchmark testing.

The best schools don’t dread benchmark testing; they embrace it.

The key is to treat benchmark tests as though they are the state tests. When school leaders emphasize the importance of benchmark testing for their staff and students, the results can be very powerful. Lead by example--whatever you expect your teachers and students to do with the data, show that you are doing it, as well.

Great school leaders use benchmark data to drive instruction, increase motivation of both students and teachers, and ultimately meet the school’s academic goals.

Here are four steps you can take to put your benchmark data to good use.

Get data out to teachers.

As soon as the results come in, you should send them out to the teachers. You will have only a few short weeks from the time you receive benchmark results until the next benchmark test. Your teachers need time to view the data, analyze it, and make instructional decisions.

Teachers need to be familiar with their data for it to be useful, so ask them to engage with it. I like for teachers to be able to identify:

• Class percentages (how many students scored at each performance level)

• Lowest-performing students

• “Bubble” students (those who need only one or two more questions right to reach proficiency)

• Critical items (most missed items)

• Critical standards (most missed standards)

You don't want to overwhelm your teachers, so be sure to highlight bright spots in the data as well as areas for improvement.

Follow up with teachers individually within a couple of weeks. I like to have one on one meetings with teachers after each benchmark, and I use their test results as a starting point in a one-on-one conversation about their students’ progress.

Hold school-wide data meetings.

Perhaps the most effective action I’ve ever taken as a school leader has been to hold meetings where all teachers are able to see each grade’s results and how those results contribute to the overall progress of the school.

It takes a lot of time, but I like to compile the results of each benchmark and use the data as if it were the state test. I put the data into the accountability model and project a school wide score. These school wide data meetings contribute to the awareness and accountability of every staff member.

For teachers, this process can be painful, especially if they didn’t see the progress they wanted or expected. However, this layer of accountability can be very motivating.

Everyone works harder when they know they’re working together.

As the school leader, make sure to frame the narrative as positively progressing towards the goal. Never use the school wide data meeting to bully your staff into working harder–that would be counterproductive.

Use benchmark data to make instructional decisions.

The best place for teachers to use benchmark data is in PLC meetings. During these meetings, the PLC team should decide where to focus their time, energy, and effort to achieve clearly defined goals. Ask your teachers to collaborate on scheduling interventions, differentiating instruction, and incentivizing progress.

• Is proficiency very high but your lowest performing students’ growth very low? This could be a symptom of teachers spending too much time in Tier 1 instruction and not enough in interventions.

• Is your lowest performing students’ growth very high but your proficiency very low? Perhaps it’s time to look at curriculum and teaching practices in whole group lessons.

Teachers are professionals–they are usually good at determining where to spend their resources. But without good data, they’ll be at a loss. Encourage them to refer to the data often when making instructional decisions in PLC meetings.

Reward students for growth.

Some students are motivated by grades. Most students, however, need something extra to keep them interested in performing well on standardized tests. After all, practicing for and taking benchmark tests isn’t nearly as fun as reading through a novel or conducting a science experiment.

Benchmark tests are supposed to measure progress, not proficiency. Since you want your students to make positive progress, be sure to offer more than just a grade.

Find out what motivates your students, and reward them both at the building and at the classroom level.

One year at Sebastopol Attendance Center, we offered students a snack cart coupon if they met their growth goal on each benchmark they took. For the final benchmark before the state test, we upped the ante and offered a $50 Amazon gift card (sponsored by our parent organization) to the student in each grade who showed the most growth on one of the benchmarks. This extra incentive especially motivated the lower-performing students, who had more room to grow and were more likely to win the big prize.

At the classroom level at Sebastopol, each teacher makes the students’ progress visual. The teachers display a clip chart that shows each student’s growth relative to the rest of the class.

Teachers also offer extra classroom incentives for benchmark growth. They use homework passes, nacho parties, or whatever else is appropriate for the students they teach.

Make the benchmark tests work for you.

It is possible to use benchmark data ineffectively–I’ve seen it at many schools. The best school leaders know that there’s no time to waste, and they use their benchmark data to improve their schools every step of the way.

What about you? What are some ways you have used benchmark data to grow your school or classroom?

Let me know in the comments below!