The Third Grade Benchmark Assessments were designed using feedback from testing grade level Assessment and Reporting Committee teams (3-6) and Power Standards in ELA and math to measure student progress commencing in the 2021-22 academic year. This feedback includes alignment to the SBAC, using credible resources such as the SBAC Blueprints and Content Explorer, IABs, and the Common Core Companion Guide.  Third grade ARC teachers designed and approved math assessments during meetings  5 and 6 (May and September 2019, respectively).  All selected test questions from the team were used in the development of the VESD Math Benchmark Assessment.  The tests will be computer scored and data will sync automatically into DnA by Renaissance (formally Illuminate), so no entry from the teacher is necessary.  Below are the District negotiated Focus Standard(s) they measure, testing windows for the year, and resources for administration, all of which the Third Grade ARC team had the opportunity to review and provide input towards.

Online Benchmarks were revised for the 2025–26 school year based on valuable stakeholder feedback, beginning with the Baseline Assessments, which are now aligned to prior year’s standards to better reflect student readiness. Starting in Trimester 1, each benchmark will feature consistent question types, aligned Depth of Knowledge (DOK) levels, and focus standards that are directly connected to the Smarter Balanced Content Explorer. To support instructional planning, Benchmark Blueprints will include sample question stems as well as helpful links and resources designed to deepen student thinking and extend learning.

• RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

• RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

• RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

• W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.

• W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

• W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

• SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

• SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

• L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

• 3.OA.A.1 Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a context in which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 × 7.

• 3.OA.A.3 Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

• 3.OA.C.7 Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

• 3.NBT.A.2 Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.

• 3.NF.A.1 Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.

• 3.NF.A.2 Understand a fraction as a number on the number line; represent fractions on a number line diagram.

• 3.NF.A.3 Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size.

• 3.MD.C.7 Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition.

• 3.MD.D.8 Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters.