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What's New

Benchmark Universe continues to create the tools you need for a rapidly evolving educational environment and a diverse student population. On this page, we’ll announce new features and functions that help you meet the challenges of today’s classrooms. We believe that literacy is a life-long collaborative effort. Each one of us at Benchmark Education is committed to a child's appreciation for reading.

Our goal is to make your lives easier and enhance your students' learning experience. Enjoy the new features and enhancements we've made for you!

Time-out Notice in Benchmark Universe

Benchmark Universe users will now see a time-out notice if they are inactive for a certain length of time. Learn more about the time-out notice here.

Live View for eAssessments

Live View allows teachers and administrators to monitor their students in real-time when they take an eAssessment. Learn more about Live View here.

eAssessments Grading Updates

eAssessments Grading Page is now Grade View. We have made improvements to the user interface and navigation so teachers and administrators can quickly determine the number of students assigned to the test, view the full name of the students with a fly-out feature, and have greater control when sharing test results and comments with students. Read more about Grade View here.

Manage Resource Library Filters

Teachers who have students rostered to their class can use the Manage Students’ Library page to limit which content individual students or classes can and cannot see. They can also set the default Resource Library of their students and classes. In addition, Benchmark Universe now offers teachers and administrators the option of setting which Resource Library filters they see whenever they open the Resource Library.

Oral Reading Records Now Identifies Derived Instructional Proficiency

The Derived Instructional feature is ORR's newest tool to identify a student's reading level as accurately as possible.

When a student scores Independent on a particular reading level, and then scores Frustrational on the next highest reading level, their Independent proficiency is automatically re-labeled "Instructional". Next to the proficiency, you'll see our blue and green Derived Instructional icon, to clearly identify why it's Instructional. Read more about Derived Instructional reading levels here.

Resource Library Debuts New Features

Do you wish the library you use most often was already chosen for you? Wish no more! Teachers and Administrators can now favorite multiple libraries that appear at the top of the library dropdown. From those favorites, set one as your default that will always be selected when you visit the Resource Library. The same is true for schools if you are associated to more than one.

We've also added information about Assignments right where you preview resources. And for eBooks, see the reading level when you hover over the thumbnail.

Resource Library Update: Select more than one Resource at a time

You can now multi-select resources to either add to an Assignment or a Bookshelf. Select the check mark at the top left of the resource thumbnail. Once more than one resource is selected, you'll see an option to add them to an assignment or bookshelf. Read more about creating an assignment or adding resources to a bookshelf.

Updated Resource Library, Assignment Creation, and Bookshelves View

Your new and improved Resource Library is now available! Preview resource categories as you scroll. Expand and collapse categories and filters to see more resources. View additional information about each resource. See a redesigned assignment panel, which will now let you assign to multiple classes at once. There’s a new page for bookshelves, including shared school and district customization bookshelves.

District and School Administrators Can Now Create and View Assignments!

District and School administrators can now access, view, edit, and create assignments for a teacher’s class:

Benchmark Digital ORR Updates Improve Visibility and Offer New Toggle

Benchmark Digital Oral Reading Records now let users see who last modified an ORR, and in which class it was administered. Users also have access to a full history of all ORRs administered to a student. School & District Reading History Reports now show all ORRs administered. There's also a new toggle which allows users to see which students have not yet been assessed within a selected date range (available at the Class, School, and District level).

Take a Look at the Benchmark Back-to-School Preview

Benchmark has many new features coming soon. From updates to Benchmark Universe Assignments to new tools in eAssessments. Check out the Back-to-School Preview to learn about them.