Age Group: Pre-K Category: Implementation Guide

District Level CPM Benchmarks

This district-level benchmark guide is to assist in your decision-making processes.

The details in this guide will help with the following:

  • Understanding how long each measure takes to assess
  • Understand the interplay between each measure and ECDS requirements
  • Having a firm grasp of which measures are total scores and the components of the total score
  • Evaluating which fields to identify as required for your district
  • Creating a list of validated measures
  • Determining which measures to use for growth metrics
  • Making decisions on which fields to use in board goals and why
  • Determining which metrics to use for other KPIs

While reviewing the benchmarks, please keep the following in mind.

  • Student’s age as of Sept 1st were used to establish benchmarks. All benchmarks in this document are for the “On track” indicator. Any score below the “On track” cut-point will receive an indicator of “Monitor” or “Support” for ages 3.0 - 4.0 and 4.0+, respectively.
  • Cut point differences are due to a variety of factors:
    • The statistical analysis of the CLI Engage assessment tool over time
    • Considerations for English and Spanish instruction
    • Considerations for the unique linguistic characteristics of English and Spanish
    • A child’s age as of September 1st
  • Items without a benchmark due to insufficient data at this time are marked "***".
  • Most districts use 3-wave assessment (BOY, MOY, EOY) on CLI Engage. If your district is administering a 4-wave assessment, use this guide to align benchmarks from the tables on the following pages:
    • Wave 1: as-is
    • Wave 2: as-is
    • Wave 3: repeat Wave 2 benchmarks
    • Wave 4: use Wave 3 benchmarks

Rapid Vocabulary

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0 or above
Wave 1 4 10 16
Wave 2 9 11 18
Wave 3 10 12 19

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0 or above
Wave 1 1 6 6
Wave 2 6 8 14
Wave 3 7 9 16

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Domain for ECDS: Language and Communication
  • Administration Time core tasks: 2.5 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Story Retell and Comprehension

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 1 2 3 4
Wave 2 1 2 3 4
Wave 3 1 2 3 4

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 1 2 3 4
Wave 2 1 2 3 4
Wave 3 1 2 3 4

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Administration Time core tasks: 10 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Speech Production and Sentence Skills

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 1 2 3
Wave 2 1 3 5 5
Wave 3 3 5 5 7

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 1 1 2
Wave 2 1 2 4 5
Wave 3 2 4 5 6

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Observable
  • Administration Time core tasks: 2 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Rapid Letter Naming

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 7 7 8
Wave 2 *** 7 11 12
Wave 3 *** 8 14 14

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 4 4 5
Wave 2 *** 5 8 9
Wave 3 *** 6 10 13

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Domain for ECDS: Emergent Literacy: Reading
  • Administration Time core tasks: 2.5 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Phonological Awareness

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0 or above
Wave 1 *** 14 18
Wave 2 *** 16 19
Wave 3 *** 19 24

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0 or above
Wave 1 *** 10 13
Wave 2 *** 13 16
Wave 3 *** 15 18

 

***Nota: No hay suficientes datos para establecer puntos de referencia en este momento.

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct Assessment
  • Administration Time core tasks: 10 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Letter-Sound Correspondence

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** *** *** ***
Wave 2 *** *** 1 2
Wave 3 *** *** 3 5

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** *** *** ***
Wave 2 *** *** 1-12 3
Wave 3 *** *** 5-12 7

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Administration Time core tasks: 5 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Motivation to Read

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 1 1 2
Wave 2 2 2 3 4
Wave 3 2 3 4 4

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 1 1 1
Wave 2 1 2 2 3
Wave 3 2 4 4 4

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Observable
  • Administration Time core tasks: 2 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Early Writing Skills

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 1 1 3
Wave 2 2 4 7 10
Wave 3 4 6 10 13

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 *** 1 1 1
Wave 2 1 3 7 9
Wave 3 4 7 12 14

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Observable
  • Domain for ECDS: Emergent Literacy: Writing
  • Administration Time core tasks: 2 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Book and Print Awareness

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 1 2 3 4
Wave 2 3 4 5 6
Wave 3 4 6 7 8

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 1 1 1 2
Wave 2 2 3 5 6
Wave 3 4 5 7 8

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Administration Time core tasks: 5 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Math

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0 or above
Wave 1 *** 10 28
Wave 2 *** 9 25
Wave 3 *** 10 28

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0 or above
Wave 1 *** 8 18
Wave 2 *** 8 18
Wave 3 *** 7 17

 

*** Note: Insufficient data to establish benchmarks at this time.

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Domain for ECDS: Mathematics
  • Administration Time core tasks: 5 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Science

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 8 10 13 15
Wave 2 11 13 16 17
Wave 3 13 16 18 19

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 7 9 11 13
Wave 2 10 13 15 16
Wave 3 13 15 17 19

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Administration Time core tasks: 10 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Social Studies

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 5 6 7 8
Wave 2 7 8 9 10
Wave 3 8 9 10 11

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 3 4 6 7
Wave 2 6 7 8 9
Wave 3 7 9 9 10

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Direct assessment
  • Administration Time core tasks: 8 minutes
  • A validated benchmark

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Social Emotional Behaviors

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 3 7 9 14
Wave 2 19 26 29 31
Wave 3 30 32 37 43

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 1 2 5 9
Wave 2 19 26 27 31
Wave 3 30 32 38 44

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Observable
  • Domain for ECDS: Health and Wellness
  • Administration Time core tasks: 10 minutes
  • A validated benchmark
    • Includes: Positive Social Behaviors, Classroom Community & Safety, Emotion & Behavior Regulation, Self-Care, Approaches to Learning

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Approaches to Learning Expanded

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 4 5 6 9
Wave 2 9 11 13 14
Wave 3 12 14 16 18

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 1 3 4 6
Wave 2 8 11 12 14
Wave 3 13 16 16 18

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Observable
  • Administration Time core tasks: 6 minutes
  • A validated benchmark
    • Includes: Initiative & Curiosity, Flexibility, Art/Creativity & Dramatic Play

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Physical Development and Health

English

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 7 9 10 12
Wave 2 12 12 14 16
Wave 3 13 16 19 21

 

Spanish

 

Wave Age 3.0-<3.5 Age 3.5-<4.0 Age 4.0-<4.5 Age 4.5 or above
Wave 1 3 5 8 9
Wave 2 10 11 12 14
Wave 3 12 16 20 21

 

Measure Information

  • Measure type: Observable
  • Administration Time core tasks: 6 minutes
  • A validated benchmark
    • Includes: Fine & Visual Motor, Gross Motor, Health Status

 

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This document was last modified on: November 12, 2026