Writing Benchmark Best Practices

NoRedInk Writing Benchmarks are designed to give teachers across a school or district the data they need to meaningfully drive instruction throughout the academic year.

If your team has decided to leverage NoRedInk Writing Benchmarks, check out the following best practices to learn how to best utilize a Writing Benchmark with your students!

Administration Best Practices

While teachers are often familiar with using benchmarks to measure student growth, there are a few best practices that NoRedInk has seen teachers employ that help the process run smoothly.

1. Find the time: Typically, administrators create a 2-3 week window for the benchmark to be administered. Plan to administer your Benchmark early in that window so any absent students can make up the work before the window closes.
2. Familiarize students with NoRedInk: Before you administer your Benchmark, have students log in. Consider assigning a Fluency and Fun Quick Write to help students get comfortable with the site.
3. Set expectations with students: Many students experience anxiety when approaching content they might not know. Before students begin the Benchmark, let them know that the assignment is meant to help you learn more about their areas of strength and growth so you can support them throughout the year. 

Be mindful of the naming conventions in the assignment; that field must remain unchanged to provide your district class-level data. 

Reviewing Student Submissions

Before you begin reviewing student submissions, it’s often helpful to hold a rubric norming session with your department to ensure everyone shares a common understanding of the criteria for success.

Depending on your district’s setup, Writing Benchmarks may be AI-graded using NoRedInk’s Grading Assistant or manually graded by teachers.

• If your Benchmark uses AI grading:
  Review the AI-generated scores and feedback for accuracy and alignment with your expectations. Make any adjustments needed before approving the feedback.

• If your Benchmark is manually graded:
  Use the rubric to score each student’s submission. Focus on consistency and efficiency rather than providing extensive individualized comments at this stage.

Whether AI-assisted or manual, your goal is to capture reliable data that highlights trends in student performance. This information will guide next steps for instruction and curriculum planning.

❗ All submissions must be graded or have AI scores approved before the Benchmark window closes. Completing this step ensures that your school or district’s data accurately reflects student performance.

Responding to Benchmark Data

Set aside time with your department or PLC to:

• Interpret class and student results
• Identify strengths and priority areas for targeted instruction
• Select priority rubric criteria to focus on before the next Benchmark

Focus instruction on 2–3 priority rubric criteria before the next Benchmark, supported by a balance of targeted Practice and Writing application spread across the available weeks.

As teachers identify high-need gaps from Benchmark data, they can:

1. Use premade Lessons and Tutorials to introduce or review the writing skills students most need to strengthen.
2. Assign targeted Practice to help students work toward mastery of the priority writing skills. Refer to the following chart for Skill-Building Modules aligned to Grading Assistant rubric criteria:

Grading Assistant Rubric Criteria	Skill-Building Modules
Thesis	Thesis Statements
Topic Sentences	Topic Sentences
Evidence	Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Reasoning/Explanation	Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Counterargument	Counterargument Paragraphs
Conclusion/Closing	Conclusion Paragraphs
Organization	Transition Words and Phrases

 

💡 Tip: For genre-aligned practice, you can also refer to NoRedInk Pathway Recommendations for Different Writing Genres.

3. Assign writing activities so students can practice the writing skills assessed on the Benchmark. For the most targeted learning, select assignments in the same genre as the Benchmark.
   • Assign Quick Writes to help students apply writing skills in short, focused tasks.
   • Assign Guided Short Responses and/or Guided Essays to give students structured opportunities to practice the writing skills required on the Benchmark, with support from tutorials, model writing, and targeted tips. 
   • Provide feedback aligned to the priority rubric criteria so students understand what to improve and can apply that feedback in their next piece of writing.

💡 Tip: You can use Grading Assistant to streamline the feedback process! Learn about NoRedInk's Grading Assistant.

Additional Resources

• Learn about Writing Benchmarks
• How to Assign a Writing Benchmark