Benchmarks describe what students should know and be able to do at four different grade spans?

• A. Three
• B. Five
• C. Four
• D. Six

Answer: (C)

Benchmarks are written to set expectations for students at distinct stages of schooling, not just at a single point. By organizing what students should know and be able to do into separate grade spans, the framework acknowledges developmental progress and gives teachers clear targets for each stage. This structure helps teachers plan instruction, design appropriate assessments, and track growth as students move from one stage to the next.

The reason this general approach is the best fit is that it provides a coherent progression: each grade span has its own, developmentally appropriate goals, which clarifies what comes next after a student meets the current benchmarks. If there were too few grade spans, progress might feel too compressed and fail to reflect kids’ changing abilities. If there were too many, it would become needlessly complex to manage. So describing benchmarks across multiple, clearly defined grade spans best captures how learning builds over time.