– Benchmark assessments – Amplify Curriculum

Benchmark assessments

Amplify’s New York City Benchmark Assessments give you insight into how your students are progressing toward mastery of the three dimensions and performance expectations of the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS) ahead of high-stakes end-of-year assessments. Amplify’s Benchmarks are given three times per year and are delivered after specific units in the recommended Amplify Science scope and sequence (see table below). Each assessment is designed to be administered during a 90-minute class period.

Teachers can find the assessments at apps.learning.amplify.com/assessments. If teachers cannot access that link, they can contact help@amplify.com for further support.

Recommended Benchmark Placement in NYC Scope and Sequence:

Grade 6		Grade 7		Grade 8
Amplify Science Units	Benchmark Form	Amplify Science Units	Benchmark Form	Amplify Science Units	Benchmark Form
Harnessing Human Energy Thermal Energy	6A	Microbiome Metabolism	7A	Geology on Mars Earth, Moon, and Sun Force and Motion Force and Motion Engineering Internship	8A
Populations and Resources Matter and Energy in Ecosystems	6B	Phase Change Chemical Reactions	7B	Magnetic Forces Light Waves	8B
Weather Patterns; Oceans, Atmosphere and Climate Earth’s Changing Climate	6C	Plate Motion Plate Motion Engineering Internship Rock Transformations Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship	7C	Traits and Reproduction Natural Selection Evolutionary History	8C

Assessment Structure

Each assessment is structured in segments:

Segment A: A sequence of stand-alone questions, primarily selected response items
Segment B: Performance tasks that include a variety of item types including constructed response, matching, fill-in-the table, and others.

Assessment Scoring

Each item carries a recommended value of 1 point. Reporting categories are defined at multiple levels, including individual dimensions (Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts) and NYSSLS Performance Expectations. Each assessment is accompanied by a teacher Scoring Guide that details for each item:

NYSSLS standards alignment
Answer Key
Item Type
Recommended score

Assessment Delivery

Assessments can be delivered through:

PDF Files
Integration with any QTI file-compatible assessment platform. Note that while Amplify is able to provide access to the QTI files themselves, we are not able to support the integration process. We suggest reaching out to your assessment platform provider for more information on QTI file integration.