Benchmarks and Rubrics

The College of Education values and embraces the use of data-driven decision-making. We seek to use information as a path to continuous improvement and to reflect on the effectiveness of our programs. All of our teacher preparation programs are based on professional standards for educators (such as, the Arizona Professional Teacher Standards/APTS). In order to determine whether or not the graduates of our programs possess essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to high quality teachers, benchmark assessments have been developed for each course. These benchmark assessments will require COE students to demonstrate competency of essential learning experiences that are standards-based and program-essential.

Benchmark Assessment - A benchmark assessment is based on a critical skill or core of knowledge that is essential to the desired learning outcome. It is performance-based and represents the heart of the course in terms of the core learning objectives.

Rubric- A rubric is an evaluation tool that identifies the necessary criteria for demonstrating differing levels of competency with the benchmark assessment. The rubric serves as an instrument that guides the evaluator as they make decisions about an individual’s performance and competency with a predetermined set of criteria.

The College of Education has developed a system that outlines the target Benchmark Assessments for each course in our various teacher education programs. This system is referred to as the “Assessment of Applied Learning,” which serves as a visual overview of the COE accountability plan for measuring student competencies. All students must demonstrate competency on these performance-based benchmark assessments in order to provide evidence that they are attaining the essential abilities necessary for becoming a highly qualified teacher.

Benchmark Courses and Assignments