PAPERS

BENCHMARKING IN READING

Supporting lecturer:

Hilman. M,Pd

Arranged by: Group 2

1. Adelia Rizky Destriani (201230006)

2. Yuni Anggraeni (201230035)
3. Zakia Umami (201230014)

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

SULTAN MAULANA HASANUDIN BANTEN

2021-2022

1
 FOREWORD

Praise the presence of Allah SWT who has given His grace and guidance to me can complete this
paper assignment entitled Islam and culture right at the time. The purpose of the writing of this
paper is to fulfill the duties of the lecturer in the Eye Interpretive Reading Lecture. Apart from
that, this paper also aims to add insight into Islam and studies Religion for readers as well as for
writers.

I would like to thank Mr Hilman, M.Pd, as a Lecturer in the interpretive Reading Course who has
given this assignment so that it can add knowledge and insight in accordance with the field of
study that I am engaged in. I also express my gratitude to all those who have shared a portion his
knowledge so that I can finish this paper.

I realized that the paper I wrote was far from perfect. Therefore, I will look forward to constructive
criticism and suggestions for the perfection of this paper.

Serang, 23 March 2021

Writer

2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forword……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……2

Table Of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….3

Chapter I: Preliminery…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…4

1.1 Background………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
1.2 Formulation Of the Problem……………………………………………………………………………………………..…4
1.3 Our Purpose…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4

Chapter II: Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5

2.1 What Is Bechmarking and Assesment…………………………………………………………………………………..6

2.2 Purepose For Reading Assesment……………………………………………………….……………………………….7

2.3 Major Component Abilities For Reading Comprehension…………..………………………………………..8

2.4 Further Issues For Reading Assessment……………………………………………………………………………….8

Chapter III: Closing………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11

Conclution………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11

Bibliography…………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………12

3
 CHAPTER I

PRELIMINERY

1.2 Background

The focus in international development has shifted from increasing access to school to making
sure that students are acquiring tangible skills and knowledge as a result of going to school. Most
importantly, emphasis is being increasingly placed on ensuring that students learn to read in the
first few years of primary school. It is clearly important for students to develop the ability to read
with comprehension early in their schooling, so that they can use text as a vehicle for learning.
They must learn to read in order to read to learn. A question that all education systems face then
becomes, what is an appropriate standard for literacy? How good is good enough when it comes
to students’ ability to read? To answer that question, education systems need to define a standard
for reading skill. For example, many countries stipulate in their curricula that students should be
proficient in reading by grade 2 or 3.1 But was constitutes proficiency? What is a straightforward
way to ascertain whether students are reaching the desired level of reading skill?

1.2 Formulation Of the Problem

A. What Is Benchmarking And Assesment?

B. What Is Purepose For Reading Assesment?
C. Anything About Major Component Abilities For Reading Comprehension?
D. What Further Issues For Reading Assessment?

1.3 Our Purpose

A. The Meaning Of Benchmarking And Assesment

B. Miscellaneous Purepose For Reading Assessment
C. Various Main Component Abilities For Reading Comprehension
D. Further Problem Solving For Reading Assessment

4
 CHAPTER II

DISCUCCION

2.1 What Is Benchmarking and Assesment

A. Benchmarking

In fact, benchmarking is a loanword from English. Reporting from the Cambridge

dictionary, benchmarking has the meaning as a benchmark or measuring instrument. Based on the
root of the word, it can be said that a benchmark is a benchmark or yardstick used to assess or
compare certain things. Meanwhile, the general understanding of benchmarking is a standard or
benchmark used to compare one thing with another. Simply put, by using these benchmarks,
various things will be measured by common standards.

The PM Benchmark Reading Assessment Resources 1 and 2 are designed to explicitly assess
students’ instructional and independent reading levels using accurately levelled fiction and non-
fiction texts. These texts are unseen by and meaningful to young students. The new PM Benchmark
Assessment and Profiling Software introduces a technology component to the PM Benchmark
Kits, making the recording of reading records and generation of student profile data easier, more
efficient and more accurate. The software automatically calculates data such as reading accuracy
rate, error rate and self-correction rate.

Benchmarking Considered most useful for:

• Identifying Knowledge, Skills And Strategies Students Use When Reading Unseen Texts
• Assessing Students’ Fluency When They Read Aloud
• Assessing Students’ Retelling Strategies
• Determining Students’ Comprehension Understandings Within And Beyond The Text
• Providing Recommendations For Ongoing Teaching.

5
 B. Assessment

Reading assessment itself involves a range of purposes that reflect multiple assessment
contexts: standardized proficiency assessment, classroom‐based formative and achievement
testing, placement and diagnostic testing, assessment for reading research purposes (Grabe, 2009),
and assessment‐for‐learning purposes (Black & Wiliam, 2006). The first two of these contexts take
up the large part of this chapter (see Grabe, 2009, for discussion of all five purposes for reading
assessment).

In the process of discussing these purposes for reading assessment, questions related to
how reading assessments should be carried out are also addressed. The changing discussions of
the reading construct, the redesign of standardized assessments for second language learners, and
the need to assess aspects of the reading construct that were previously ignored have led to a wide
range of assessment task types, some of which had not been given serious consideration until the
late 1990s.

Standardized Reading Assessment

Major standardized reading assessment programs consider the construct of reading in

multiple ways. It is possible to describe the reading construct in terms of purposes for reading,
representative reading tasks, or cognitive processes that support comprehension. To elaborate, a
number of purposes for engaging in reading can be identified, a number of representative reading
tasks can be identified, and a set of cognitive processes and knowledge bases can be considered as
constitutive of reading comprehension abilities. Of the three alternative descriptive possibilities,
reading purpose provides the most transparent explanation to a more general public as well as to
test takers, test users, and other stakeholders.

Most people can grasp intuitively the idea of reading to learn, reading for general
comprehension, reading to evaluate, expeditious reading, and so on. Moreover, these purposes
incorporate several key reading tasks and major component skills (many of which vary in
importance depending on the specific purpose), thus providing a useful overarching framework
for the “construct of reading” (see Clapham, 1996; Enright et al., 2000; Grabe, 2009; Khalifa &
Weir, 2009). This depiction of reading abilities, developed in the past two decades, has also led to
a reconsideration of how to assess reading abilities within well recognized assessment constraints.
It has also led to several innovations in test tasks in standardized assessments. This trend is
exemplified by new revisions to the Cambridge ESOL suite of exams, the IELTS, and the iBT
TOEFL.

6
Four Types of Reading Assessments

There are 4 types of reading assessments that comprise a comprehensive, reading assessment
plan. Each type of assessment is important in its own right and provides valuable information

1. Screening the purpose of a screening assessment is to identify students who are at-risk for
reading difficulties. Identifying the students early on who are likely to struggle with learning to
read is important as we can then develop intervention plans that, hopefully, prevent a life-long
reading deficit.

2. Progress Monitoring the purpose of progress monitoring is to track student performance during
an instructional period. Once a student is identified as at-risk for reading difficulties, an
intervention plan is developed. Every week or every other week, the student is assessed with a
progress monitoring probe (usually a one minute assessment). The purpose of the assessment is
to determine if the student is making progress when provided with the additional support.

3. Diagnostic assessments provide the teacher with more in-depth information about the student’s
skills. Diagnostic assessments can range from standardized assessments to teacher-made
classroom assessments.

4. Outcomes assessments are typically administered once a year. These assessments are usually
referred to as “high stakes” assessments and the data is used to assess curriculum design,
implementation and teachers’ efforts over the course of a school year.

2.2 Purpose For Reading Assesment

A. Reading-proficiency assessment

Assessment of reading proficiency is important as a way to understand students’ overall reading

abilities (based on some assumed construct of reading) and to determine if students are
appropriately prepared for further learning and educational advancement. Commonly, this type of
assessment is referred to as standardized testing, although local groups and researchers also
develop proficiency tests of different types. In most respects, proficiency assessment represents
high-stakes testing because decisions are often made about students’ future educational goals and
opportunities.

B. Assessment of classroom learning

Assessment of reading improvement in classroom settings involves the measurement of skills

and knowledge gained over a period of time and is commonly referred to as summative or
achievement testing.

7
 C. Assessment for learning

Assessment for learning involves a type of reading assessment that is not commonly discussed
and is somewhat innovative in discussions of L2 assessment. This assessment purpose is intended
to support and promote student learning, in this case, the improvement of reading abilities.

D. Assessment of curricular effectiveness

Assessment of curricular effectiveness and program evaluation is not specific to reading but is
relevant for the development and / or review of reading. Evaluations of curricular success and
teacher effectiveness represent different types of evaluation goals and extend beyond the
immediate goals of student assessment, but they are important considerations for any large-scale
assessment of reading curricula as well as programmatic needs analysis.

E. Assessment for research purposes

Assessment for research purposes is a topic that is not generally addressed in assessment
chapters, but it is one that is very important for reading research results as well as for their
implications for reading instruction. Research studies sometimes use standardized assessment
instruments to measure student levels or student instructional outcomes.

2.3 Major component abilities for reading comprehension

1. Fluency and reading speed

2. Automaticity and rapid word recognition

3. Search processes

4. Vocabulary knowledge

5. Morphological knowledge

6. Syntactic knowledge

7. Text-structure awareness and discourse organization

8. Main-ideas comprehension

9. Recall of relevant details

10. Inferences about text information

11. Strategic-processing abilities

8
12. Summarization abilities

13. Synthesis skills

14. Evaluation and critical reading

Among the challenges to consider for reading assessment is how such an array of component
abilities can best be captured within the operational constraints of standardized testing, what new
assessment tasks might be developed, and what component abilities (e.g., grammar) might best be
assessed indirectly.

2.4 Further Issues For Reading Assessment

Several additional issues could be discussed. The first is the recognition on the parts of
assessors, teachers, and administrators of the consequences of assessment. The second is the
importance of teacher training for effective and appropriate reading assessment.

Consequences of assessment All assessments have consequences. In a classroom setting,

students may feel that they did not perform well. Teachers may be disappointed in a specific
performance by a student and let it show even if no grade is involved.

Informal assessments may inadvertently be made based on one or two salient experiences
rather than a fair accumulation of evidence over time and across tasks. Even in an assessment for
learning contexts, a steady diet of difficulties and poor performances can take a toll on both
students and teachers. The point is that assessment, no matter the context, is serious business and
must be handled with care, purpose, and expertise.

Expanding Reading Comprehension Skills

Most important, teachers cannot opt out of the consequences of assessment. Even when
teachers state that they do not believe in standardized assessment or grading, they are generating
consequences of assessment. They are leaving assessment to others who may be less informed
about the students, their progress, and their needs. When teachers do not take assessment seriously
as their responsibility, they give up their ability to advocate for students in assessment contexts or
support fair assessment practices.

Teachers need to develop expertise in assessment practices of all types if they are to ensure
fair uses of assessment and appropriate consequences of assessments. Only when many teachers
have true assessment expertise will their views be heard by administrators and policy consultants.
Assessment is sometimes treated as a bad word. But all of us engage in assessment all the time,
both in our daily lives and in the classroom. We assess the value of most daily activities we engage
in and most purchases we make. Taking this view of assessment also highlights the consequences
of assessment. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that these consequences are not harmful or
9
unfair. Teacher training for reading assessment There is little research that describes how teachers
develop as assessment experts or that demonstrates what types of classroom assessment training
most.

Teacher training for reading assessment

There is little research that describes how teachers develop as assessment experts or that
demonstrates what types of classroom assessment training most benefits teachers and their
students.The above discussion of assessment consequences inevitably places a responsibility on
teachers to ensure that assessments of all types are fair and appropriate. This responsibility, in turn,
means that teachers must develop expertise in assessment practices and uses of the resulting
outcomes. One obvious way to promote teacher expertise in assessment is to change teacher-
development programs so that a greater emphasis is placed on assessment skills. However,
assessment training itself needs to change to engage teachers much in the way that teachers have
a responsibility to engage students in their own learning.

Teachers will not develop expertise in assessment in spite of educational training

institutions. Teacher-training programs also have a responsibility to ensure that teachers
understand assessment practices and purposes, carry out assessments fairly and appropriately, and
use assessments for effective learning purposes (see also Snow, Griffin, & Burns, 2005). At the
same time, there are a number of ways in which teachers can help themselves. When assessments
are recognized as essential aspects of learning, teachers can explore specific aspects of assessment
practices that appeal to them. It is not difficult for teachers to develop expertise in informal
assessment practices and learn to use them appropriately. Teachers may also want to explore
assessment for learning practices as a process of continual supportive feedback for student
learning.

Teachers may want to learn about specific standardized assessments, perhaps in study
groups, to understand technical specifications, construct-validity arguments, and consequences of
test uses. informed teachers who can challenge or complement expert consultants will go a long
way to the implementation of fair and appropriate assessment practices. Teacher engagement in
assessment issues also suggests that researchers and teacher trainers need to know more about how
teachers can develop assessment expertise. Assessment is far too important in the lives of students
to leave matters of fairness and consequences to others.

10
Implications for instruction

When teachers recognize the potential of assessment in student learning and the need to
take responsibility for appropriate assessment practices, many implications for instruction emerge.
The most central of these implications is that appropriate and effective assessment practices will
lead to better student learning. The most obvious example of this is a consistent and ongoing effort
to provide assessment for learning.

Many teachers might imagine assessment for learning as a process of weekly quizzes
intended to measure learning progress. However, assessment for learning is not focused mainly on
quizzes, graded homework, and tests. Rather, it is intended to provide immediate information to
teachers who then adjust instruction accordingly to meet students’ learning needs. In this way,
assessment is simply a major component of instruction itself. Teachers can receive feedback from
students in multiple ways, many of which involve informal types of assessment.

11
 CHAPTER III

CLOSING

Conclution

A benchmark refers to what students are expected to achieve at a given grade format
(Airasian, 2001). According to Gronlund (2006), content standards consist of statements. These
statements are specified in a general way on what students should learn. Every standard is followed
by a number of benchmarks. The benchmarks clarify what students have achieved the content
standards. It reveals what students know or can do. In fact, benchmarking is a loanword from
English. Reporting from the Cambridge dictionary, benchmarking has the meaning as a benchmark
or measuring instrument.

Using assessments well demands our knowledge and vigilance. The informed use of
reading assessments may be accomplished when we attend to the issues discussed in this chapter.
First, we must regularly consider the following questions:

Why do we assess reading?

What do we assess when we assess reading?

How, where, and when do we assess reading?

Second, all of our work in reading assessment must be guided by a detailed understanding
and definition of what reading is and a clear conceptualization of reading assessment. We are
fortunate that our evolving understanding of reading parallels an evolving understanding of how
to best assess reading. The CURRV framework of reading assessment provides useful guidelines
for assessing assessments, enabling us to examine the suitability of the reading assessments we
use.

The psychometric standards of reliability and validity are central to any successful reading
assessment. Yet these aspects of assessment must share the stage with our consideration of the
consequences, usefulness, and associated roles and responsibilities of particular reading
assessments. Equipped with these important understandings of assessment, we are now ready to
begin our consideration of the different types of reading assessments.

12
 Bilbiography

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/117050/chapters/Important-Issues-and-Concepts-in-
Reading-Assessment.aspx

https://www.cambridge.org/elt/resources/appliedlinguistics/testing/ReadingInA2ndLanguage_
Sample_Ch17.pdf

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781118411360.wbcla060

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289776825_Benchmarking_Year_Five_Students'_Re
ading_Abilities

13