Hardin County Schools Sees Benchmark Assessments as Fundamental to Addressing Learning Gaps
The Tennessee River bends northward from the Mississippi and Alabama borders through Hardin County, Tennessee. The river is a winding, living symbol of the region’s rich history, industrial growth, and vibrant rural communities. Hardin, a county of 27,000 residents with its seat in Savannah, Tennessee, is home to 3,400 students who attend Hardin County Schools.
Like school districts across the state, many of which still feel the impact of COVID-19 remote learning, Hardin County’s seven schools emphasize the importance of academic growth, student readiness, and recognizing students’ individual learning needs. For several years, the district has regarded standards-aligned benchmark assessments as fundamental to the district’s efforts to address learning gaps and boost student achievement.
BENCHMARK ASSESSMENTS
In the 2023-24 school year Hardin County adopted the Pathways Benchmark Assessments (formerly known as the ELS Assessments before being acquired by Learning Explorer) to provide high-quality, standards-aligned measures.
Hardin County students in grades K-10 take the Pathways Benchmark Assessments in math, ELA, science, and social studies at nine-week intervals.
Greg Wyatt, K-12 Academic Supervisor at Hardin County Schools, explains the connection between the Pathways assessments and improved student outcomes.
Says Wyatt, “I am a 100% believer in the Pathways Benchmark Assessments. They are a guiding map for teachers as well as students. The assessments are aligned to the Tennessee Academic Standards and provide a rigorous look at questions modeled after those on the TCAP (state assessment).”
“With Pathways we’ve seen an improvement in scores across most subjects,” Wyatt says, “and a significant benefit of the assessments is that our teachers are challenged to present more rigorous questions to our students which inspire critical thinking. This is evident during classroom walks and in daily assessments given by teachers.”
Following periodic administration of the benchmark assessments, teachers leverage assessment data and insights to shape their instructional plans. “Pathways Assessment data gives our teachers a snapshot view of students’ progress at various points throughout the year,” says Wyatt. “The data is reviewed by administrators as well as by teachers during PLC meetings where they routinely discuss and modify their next instructional steps based on assessment results.” These instructional adjustments make teaching more targeted and meaningful, to more fully address learning gaps.
NEXT-STEP INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Wyatt stresses the connection between assessment and instruction and notes that Pathways includes standards-aligned instructional resources (such as lesson plans, videos, and worksheets) that can be used by teachers following an assessment or at any time during the year.
“I believe that being intentional with the instructional resources in the Pathways platform can increase the growth of our students,” he says. “I have said many times that if an educator is looking for an assessment to be a magic bullet they should remember the daily instruction that should follow an assessment. The Pathways solution when used to its fullest capacity can inform and drive meaningful, targeted classroom instruction.”
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT ITEM BANKS
The Pathways platform also includes assessment item banks (including the newly introduced Learning Explorer Item Bank) which Hardin teachers use for formative assessments, bell ringers, and student reviews. Wyatt says, “Use of the formative assessment item banks in the Pathways platform has been an area where teachers have seen the most improvement. The item banks enable students to experience more rigorous, standards-aligned test questions.”
