Benchmarks Tab

Benchmarks are set time periods when students can take the WACS test. Waterford provides three default benchmarks:

• Fall
• Winter
• Spring

These defaults were chosen because they reflect the periods when student skills often change and because teachers usually test their students at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. You can also create up to twelve custom benchmarks for your classroom.

By clicking on the Benchmark tab, you can perform the following actions:

• View all existing benchmarks
• Add/delete non-default benchmarks
• Enable or disable benchmarks

You can also view the benchmark’s current status:

• In Progress: students are currently testing during this benchmark
• Expired: the benchmark’s time period has elapsed
• Pending: the benchmark’s time period has not yet occurred

Add or Delete Benchmarks

If you do not want to use the default benchmarks, you may create your own instead.

Add a Benchmark:

1. Visit the Benchmark tab, and click on +New.
2. Fill in the new benchmark’s name and start/end dates.
3. Click Save to confirm the new benchmark.

Delete a Custom Benchmark:

1. Visit the Benchmark tab and select the benchmark(s) you want to delete.
2. Click the Delete button.
3. Select Yes when the Please Confirm window appears to permanently delete your benchmark.

Enable or Disable Benchmarks

Enabling a benchmark allows you to assign students to that test period. To enable a benchmark:

1. Visit the Benchmark tab.
2. Check the Enable button to the right of the benchmark’s name.

To disable existing benchmarks, click the Enable button again to remove the check. While you can disable Pending benchmarks, you cannot disable In Progress or Expired ones.