Benchmark Education Frequently Asked Questions

The supplementary materials developed by Benchmark Education provide guidelines to expand and enhance the grade-level English Language Arts curriculum. Resources such as the ones created by Benchmark are tied to the texts that students are already reading as part of the English Language Arts curriculum. They contain reflective questions, are accompanied by sustained dialogue, and help teachers ensure that all student voices are heard and respected. It also helps deepen cultural understanding and knowledge about the history of our nation, which is critical to the formation of our students. 

The District’s social studies curriculum, accessible on our district website, is grounded in Nevada Academic Content Standards and focuses on the history of our country. The District provides consistent support to teachers at all grade levels that focus on grade-level standards and high-quality learning materials used in classrooms.

No, the materials are not aligned with Critical Race Theory. There has been a lot of misinformation, and we want to be clear that this is false.  

Integrated social justice learning experiences provide opportunities for valuing human dignity, fostering cultural diversity, and building critical thinking. These are crucial skills to developing 21st-century skills, global competencies, and college and career readiness.

The District’s departments of Curriculum and Instruction, Equity and Diversity, and Family-School Partnerships are working together to ensure elementary educators have the background knowledge, pedagogy, and content knowledge required to have and promote these critical collaborative conversations and experiences with Washoe County’s students.

Our District continually updates and provides quality supplementary materials to teachers for instructional purposes. We recently updated the math curriculum for elementary- and middle school students and provided a new ELA and science curriculum for elementary school students. These updates include ongoing professional development for teachers to ensure these materials are implemented in each classroom. Our teachers work to check for student understanding and adjust their instruction as needed consistently and often.

There is no cost for these materials since they are part of the original adoption of Benchmark Advance curriculum.