MCPS Resource Benchmark refers to a new set of literacy resources called Benchmark Advance presented by a company focused on literacy, Benchmark Education. This one is new, innovative, comprehensive English and Spanish reading or language arts programs made with the purpose to address key shifts in curriculum and instruction to meet the expectations of the new standards. The students of Montgomery County Public Schools or MCPS can use this program to support their study.
All the reading, writing, speaking, and listening courses are offered in the form of print and digital formats. Everything is provided to meet the needs of the districts reading collaborative, balanced approach, or workshop model.
Benchmark Advance is made with the thought of the current issue. The main priority and aim of the program are to support everyone as the whole world is currently facing the pandemic. They know that a lot of people are managing tons of things related to school closure and managing and supporting students even though they cannot meet face to face. They made the distance learning activities aligned to the curriculum that teachers are able to give during the school closures.
Benchmark Advance ranges for kindergarten to 6th grade. The structure of it is at the heart of Benchmark Advance, which is designed with a K-6 vertical in line with the knowledge building topics. In the chart, you will be able to see numbers representing units. For your information, there are ten units each grade level. The second column displays the topics which are the focus of the learning for every unit. Remember that each unit focused on one topic across grade levels. Every unit is three weeks in length, providing time for both students and teachers. It is time for you to make concepts, vocabulary and make content knowledge. This builds equity and access as well as comprehension.
Students build knowledge in science and social studies topics as well as literacy topics across the whole program called Benchmark Advance. You will be able to find 50% literary reading, 50% informational reading. Another thing that you will find in the program is that it provides the ample opportunities for gathering formative and summative assessment data. It includes observational assessments as well as weekly and unit assessments and interim assessments, which are based on the standards. However, it is important to note that all of these assessments reflect all four levels of DOK questions, so students are getting consistent practice with answering the types of questions they will encounter on state assessments. The item rationales are provided to provide you information about correct and incorrect answer choices and rationale behind each of them. You can use it when providing students useful feedback. Assessments are available to be taken online. Some powerful reports to monitor the whole class are also provided and also apply to an individual student with the ability to share the information with parents.
In this guide, there are three areas that will be unveiled. All of them set themselves apart from the other resources.
- The text
Building knowledge and perspectives
- The instructional framework
Science of reading research in action
- The responsive teacher
Teaching to reach each learner
As Benchmark Education focused only on literacy, they think that texts in the hands of the students should be worth reading. The Benchmark Advance provides texts worth reading in three sets. The literacy block starts off with the text sets slightly above students reading ability through read aloud.
Unique challenges require unique solutions. Benchmark Education is aware that as educators you are not ready for something unique, something to prepare you to face the challenges ahead. Do you have the resources you need to meet the instructional changes? Has the traditional textbook approach actually given you the results that you are looking for and effective to be used? Are you ready for something forward thinking built for today’s learner?
Benchmark Advance is there as the answers to all the questions. For kindergarten through 6th grade created to meet your unique challenges. What makes the program different? How did they make a program that meets these instructional changes? Instead of using the traditional textbook approach, this program is comprehensive language and literacy programs incorporating whole group and small group instruction as well as intervention, assessment, and designated English learner materials. The program provides you with a strong framework to build content knowledge, instructional design, and unique resources for accessing complex texts and readiness for the high quality assessments. How does it work?
It all starts with the instructional design build from the ground up to address these changes. If you look at the program organization, you see that each unit focuses on one knowledge strand, one topic. This is to help you meet a key instructional change built content knowledge. Within each three week unit, students read, talk, and write about a single topic, providing lots of time to internalize vocabulary and concepts. Each unit is organized by an important question and enables students to understand deeply into each of the unit topics, which include next generation science and social studies standards. With Benchmark Advance you are not only building that knowledge within a grade level but also across your students’ elementary school career. Building depth of knowledge in these grades is really important. This alignment makes it very easy to use in combination classrooms.
Education definitely needs some innovative things to support the study of the students, especially with the current issues when everyone should be at home. Even though students and all people are better not going out a lot, education is still highly needed. However, everyone knows that it is impossible to use the same method as the one when people meet up face to face. It might be hard for some people to study and to teach online but that’s the challenge. In this case, learning and teaching through online platforms or social media is still better compared to the traditional way. Health always comes first.
