PBGRBenchmarks101

Benchmarkassignmentsareproficiencybasedgraduationrequirementsyouneedtocompletebefore
yougraduateRINI.Thefollowingisinformationtohelpyouunderstandwhattheseassignmentsare
andhowtocompletethem.

I.

TheRequirements:

Youarerequiredtocompletethreebenchmarkassignmentsforeachcoresubject,each
academicyear.Forexampleinthefallyouhavetocompleteoneenglish,math,science,and
historybenchmarkassignment.AdditionallyyouhavetocompleteWorldLanguage
benchmarksthreetimesayear,duringthetwoyearsyouarerequiredtotakealanguage.

Tocompletetheassignmentyoumustearnatleasta80%forittocountasagraduation
requirement.Youmaywanttocompleteanewcopyorredoitifyourgradeisnotwhereyou
wouldlike.Eachbenchmarkassessmentmustbesubmittedwithteacherfeedbackincluding
gradingrubricandpersonalreflectiononthelearningprocessinvolvedintheproject.
Benchmarkassessmentswillbecomepartofyourgraduationportfolio,sotheyshouldbeofa
qualitythatyouareproudof.

AfteryouaredonewiththebenchmarkyouneedtouploadittoyourPBGRfolderonthe
GoogleDrive.Evidenceincludestheactualprojectoraphoto/scannedcopyoftheprojectand
thegradedrubricandthepersonalreflectiononlearning.Youshouldlabeltheassignment
Lastname_Year_Subject_Benchmark#.

Forexample:Diaz_2014_English_BM1

Youmustmakesureyourassignmentsareuploadedbeforethedeadline.

Ifanassignmentwasnotcompletedonacomputeryoucantakeapictureofitwithyour
phoneorscanitanduploadittoyourgoogledrivePBGRFolder.Inadditionyoumust
givetheoriginalcopytoMs.Whaley(Room411,computerlab)toputinyourPBGR
folder(Thisisonlyfordocumentsthatarenotindigitalformatandcouldnotbe
uploadedintothefolder)

Ifyouworkwithagroupeachmemberneedstohavegradedprooftheycompletedthe
assignment.Therecannotbeonegradedpaperforeverystudentinthegroup.Evidence
ofgroupprojectscanincludephotosaslongasthegradedrubricdocumentseach
membersparticipationintheproject.

Ifyoumissabenchmarkassignmentordonotpassabenchmarkassignmentyouhaveto
completeitinordertograduate.Youcannotfailorskipabenchmark.Youwilleitherhaveto
makeituporkeepworkingonituntilyoupasstheassignment.

Periodically,youwilllinkthebenchmarkassessmentstoyourGraduationPortfolioandwill
addthemtoyourbenchmarkchecklistinyourILP.TimewillbeprovidedduringAdvisory
periodtoaccomplishthesetasks.

II.BENCHMARKGUIDELINES:

Eachteacherandsubjectdepartmentwilldecidebenchmarkguidelines,rubrics,and
assignments.

Youshouldprovideevidencethatyouhavecompletedeachbenchmarkbyuploadingyour
gradedbenchmarkandyourreflectioninyourGoogledrivefolderorPBGRfolder.Itisthe
studentsresponsibilitytomakesuretheycompletethesebenchmarksbeforegraduation.

CheckyourPBGRGoogleDrivefolderoftentomakesureyourbenchmarksarecorrectly
labeled.Thiswillmakeiteasiertoknowwhichbenchmarksyouhavecompleted.

Ifyoumissedabenchmarkrequiredfortheschoolyear,itisimportanttospeakwith
yourteacher.Youwillneedtomakeituporcompleteanextrabenchmarkassignment
thefollowingyear.

Itisimportantallyourbenchmarksarepresentandcompletedbeforeyour12+year.

III.BenchmarkReflections:
Personalreflectionsonbenchmarkassessmentsshouldaddressthe21stCenturyLearningSkills.
Withinthecontextofcoreknowledgeinstruction,studentsmustalsolearntheessentialskillsfor
successintodaysworld,suchascriticalthinking,problemsolving,communicationandcollaboration.

1.0 FOUNDATIONSKILLS
1.1 Reading
1.2 Writing
1.3 Numeracy

2.021STCENTURYINTERDISCIPLINARYTHEMES
2.1GlobalAwareness
2.2Financial,Economic,BusinessandEntrepreneurialLiteracy
2.3CivicLiteracy
2.4HealthLiteracy
2.4EnvironmentalLiteracy

3.0LEARNINGANDINNOVATIVESKILLS
3.1CreativityandInnovation
3.2CriticalThinkingandProblemSolving
3.3CommunicationandCollaboration

4.0INFORMATION,MEDIAANDTECHNOLOGYSKILLS
4.1InformationLiteracy
4.2MediaLiteracy
4.3ITC(information,Communications,andTechnology)Literacy

5.0LIFEANDCAREERSKILLS
5.1FlexibilityandAdaptability
5.2InitiativeandSelfDirection
5.3SocialandCrossCulturalSkills

5.4ProductivityandAccountability
5.5LeadershipandResponsibility

ThefollowingWritingFramecanbeusedtoreflectonbenchmarkassessments:

WritingFrameforPersonalReflectionsonBenchmarkAssessments

Describethebenchmarkassessment.Whatwere
youaskedtodoandwhy?

Howmuchtimedidyouspendontheproject?Did
youworkaloneorwithagroup?Whatwerethe
challengesthatyoufaced?Whatwaseasyabout
theproject?
Howdidthebenchmarkassessmenthelpyouto
improvefoundationalskillssuchasreading,
writing,numeracy?

Describespecificknowledgethatyougainedfrom
thisactivityinanyoftheseareas:
globalawareness
financial,economic,businessand
entrepreneurialliteracy
civicliteracy
healthliteracy
environmentalliteracy

Howdidyouuse/developcriticalthinking,
problemsolving,anddecisionmaking,skillsin
thisproject?

Describehowyouusedandwhatyoulearned
aboutcommunicationandcollaborationthrough
thisactivity.

Whatinformation,mediaandtechnologyskillsdid
youuseandhowdidthisactivityimproveyour
information,communications,technologyliteracy?
Describehowthisactivityimprovedyourlifeand
careerskills:
flexibilityandadaptability
initiativeandselfdirection
socialandcrossculturalskills
productivityandaccountability
leadershipandresponsibility

Overall,evaluateyourperformance.Howmuch
effortdidyouputintotheproject?

IV.

SAMPLEBENCHMARKREFLECTION:

Asa12thgradertakingUSHistory,itisnecessarytocompletearesearchpaperasabenchmark
forthecourse.Thetopichastohavehistoricalsignificanceandthepapermustbelongerthanfive
pages.Italsohadtocontainbackgroundinformation,athesis,historicalcontext,andfactual
information.Itshouldbeorganized,formattedcorrectly,andincludecitedsources.Ichosetoresearch
MartinLutherKingandhisinfluenceontheCivilRightsMovement.TheessentialquestionsI
addressedinthisprojectincluded:HowdidMartinLutherKingcontributetotheCivilRights
Movement?Whatwerethespecificissueshewasaddressing?Howdidhegethisvoiceheardinorder
tocreatethepositiveimpacthemadeonthismovement?Thesequestionshelpedmefocusmyresearch
andgavemeanideaofwhatIwantedtoincludeinmypaper.

Ispentaboutamonthcompletingthisbenchmarkassignment.Thefourweeksworkingonthis
assignmentconsistedofaweekresearching,aweekdrafting,aweekwriting,andaweekediting.I
workedonthispaperonmyownandwiththehelpofmyteacher.AproblemIfacedwasnavigating
thevolumeofinformationIfoundaboutthissubjectanddecidingwhichpieceswouldbeusefulformy
paper.SomuchiswrittenonMartinLutherKingandtheCivilRightsMovement.Iwantedmypaper
toexplainmorethanspecificeventsthathappened,insteadIplannedonexplainingwhythismanhad
suchapositiveimpact.Theeasypartofthisbenchmarkassignmentwaseditingmypaper.Iamavery
goodproofreaderandImadesureallmyerrorswerecorrected.

Thisbenchmarkhelpedmeimprovemyreadingandwritingskills.Formyresearching
purposes,Ireadavarietyofsourcesfromdifferenttimeperiodsandpublications.Ireadprimary
documentsfromtheCivilRightsMovementandIalsoreadcurrentarticlesdescribingKings
influenceonthismovement.Mywritingskillsimprovedaswell,sincethisismysecondresearch
paperIhavewrittensincestartingRINI.ThefirsttimeIfoundthistypeofpaperverychallenging,but
asIhavebegantodevelopanacademicwritingstyle,itisbecomingeasier.Iamcorrectingthe
mistakesandlearninghowtoparaphraseinformationmoreeffectively.

Duringthewritingprocess,IlearnedaboutdifferenttoolsinGoogleDocstoassistwithword
choiceandproperformatting.Thisbenchmarkalsohelpedmecareerwisesinceithelpedmelearn
moreaboutbeingapositiveinfluenceandadvocateforapersonoragroup.Theseareleadership
qualitiesthatIknowareneededinanyprofessionalcareer.Kingwasanadvocateforagroupof
peopleduringtheCivilRightsmovement,asIwillbeadvocatingforpeopleshealthasanurse.Ialso
useddecisionmakingandcriticalthinkingskillsduringthisprojectbyanalyzingwhatinformationto
includetosupportmythesis.Sincetherewassomuchinformation,Ihadtomakesomehardchoices
decidingwhattoincludeandwhatwasunnecessary.Ihadtousecriticalthinkingandproblemsolving
skillsasIrealizedmythesiswasonlyasstrongasthesourcesIused.Duetothis,Ispentalotoftime
decidingwhatquotestoinclude.

ThroughlearningaboutKingandwhathestoodforIlearnedalotaboutcivicresponsibility.I
learnedthatifitisimportanttostandupforwhatisrighteveniftheroadaheadmaybedifficult.So
oftenpeoplestandbyandwatchbadthingshappen.Idonotwanttobethatperson,Iwanttobe

proactiveandinspirationallikethesubjectofmyresearch.Overall,IbelieveIdidwellonthis
benchmarkassignment.IbelieveIlearnedalotaboutmytopicandmyselfasawriter.Iputmuch
effortintothisprojectanddofeellikeIdidmypersonalbest.TheonlythingIcouldhavedoneto
improvemylearningwaspossiblyspeakingwithsomegroupsinmycommunitytogainhistorical
information.IcouldhavealsocheckedoutsomebooksinthelibraryasopposedtousingonlyInternet
sources.Iplanontakingmyresearchtothenextstepformynextproject.