We are excited to offer our new and improved Benchmark assessments. Not only do they provide coverage of the skills that were assessed in the original Unique Learning System Benchmarks, but also assess a much wider range of skills than ever before, including alignment to state standards.
As of August 11, 2023, the original ULS Benchmark assessments are no longer available to administer to students.
Results and scores from previously administered ULS Benchmark assessments will still be available on the Benchmark details page in the ULS GPS, as well as in assessment reports.
What will the updates include?
- Benchmarks will have the option to be administered in 3 different ways:
- 1) Assigned to a student and completed by the student like other n2y assignments in Student View
- 2) Teacher-led administration
- 3) Administered offline (printed)
- Randomized order of items for key benchmarks that students may take more frequently (e.g., items can’t be memorized) such as letter and number identification benchmarks.
- A more engaging layout with images and photos added!
What value do these updates bring?
- Simplifies the benchmarking process for teachers and students with the assignability option.
- Saves teachers' time with premade, easy-to-assign assessments - nothing to prepare, copy, or grade.
- Promotes student independence by assigning assessments to be completed independently in the same manner as their neurotypical peers.
- Provides flexibility in administering assessments based on the needs of the student.
- Promotes data-driven decision-making for meaningful student outcomes with unbiased, robust data determining students' strengths and needs.
- Drives compliance with more accurate, timely data for IEP development and progress monitoring.
- Sets up students for more success on high stakes, end-of-year testing by providing question format and digital literacy practice.
- Increases validity of what students really know:
- When applicable, differentiated formats, Expressive or Receptive, are offered to allow students to communicate responses in the format that works best for them.
- When applicable, randomization of item order is offered to avoid memorization (for those students who took the assessment previously).
- More effectively informs IEP Present Levels of Performance and drives goals by assessing a more comprehensive range of skills to demonstrate specific areas of student strengths and needs.
- More flexibility in how assessment can be completed. From the Student Dashboard, Administered by a Service Provider, or Offline.
The following tables show which new Benchmark assessment replaces the inactive Benchmark. Please note, not all new Benchmarks are listed. For a full list of available Benchmarks, we recommend accessing the n2y GPS Benchmarks page or using the guide located here: Assessing Student Performance with n2y.