State tests can be powerful motivators, communicating expectations and focusing curriculum and instruction. But they rarely provide the ongoing information that schools need to guide instructional programs and address the learning problems of students who might otherwise be left behind. Typically, schools turn to benchmark testing to fill the information gap.The purpose of benchmark testing is to provide both accurate information about how well students are progressing toward mastery of standards and useful diagnostic feedback to guide instruction and improve learning. Six criteria determine the validity of benchmark tests: alignment, diagnostic value, fairness, technical quality, utility, and feasibility.1. AlignmentBenchmark tests need to reflect state standards and assessments, but mimicking the state assessment tends to narrow the curriculum instead of fostering a deep understanding of the concepts underlying those standards.The alternative to aligning benchmark tests with the specific content and format of state assessments is to align them with priority content—the "big ideas"—and performance expectations implicit in state standards.2. Diagnostic ValueA test has diagnostic value to the extent that it provides useful feedback for instructional planning for individuals and groups. Open-ended test items can provide the most detailed feedback for diagnostic purposes, but even multiple-choice questions designed to reveal common misconceptions can help detect concepts that need reteaching.3. FairnessTest fairness addresses the need to make sure questions are not biased in content for diverse subgroups of students. For example, test questions should be in straightforward English, not in test jargon, so that English language learners won't be hampered in understanding. Students with disabilities should also be given appropriate accommodations on benchmark tests, as they would on state tests.4. Technical QualityTests with high technical quality provide accurate and reliable information about student performance. For example, reliability—determined by internal consistency, item response theory, inter-rater agreement, and a number of other indexes—stands for the consistency of a measure and the extent to which scores on that measure represent some stable and coherent core.5. UtilityTest utility refers to whether various groups, including central administrators, principals, and teachers, find the resulting data useful for improving teaching and learning. These groups' capacity to use the tests in turn depends on how quickly they can see the results and on their ability to interpret the data.6. FeasibilityTo determine whether benchmark tests are worth the time and money spent on them, educators should ask whether benchmark tests focus attention on student performance and provide solid information on which to base improvement efforts. Are the tests actually improving student learning?

Making Benchmark Testing Work

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