A benchmark is the smallest item identified in the MN standards and it represents the separate components of what students should know and be able to do to demonstrate understanding of a standard.
The Minnesota Academic Standards in Mathematics set the expectations for achievement in mathematics for K-12 students in Minnesota. This document is grounded in the belief that all students can and should be mathematically proficient. All students should learn important mathematical concepts, skills, and relationships with understanding. The standards and benchmarks presented here describe a connected body of mathematical knowledge that is acquired through the processes of problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections, and representation. The standards are placed at the grade level where mastery is expected with the recognition that intentional experiences at earlier grades are required to facilitate learning and mastery for other grade levels.
The Minnesota Academic Standards in Mathematics are organized by grade level into four
content strands: 1) Number and Operation, 2) Algebra, 3) Geometry and Measurement, and 4) Data Analysis and Probability. Each strand has one or more standards, and the benchmarks for each standard are designated by a code. In reading the coding, please note that for 3.1.3.2, the first 3 refers to the third grade, the 1 refers to the Number and Operation strand, the next 3 refers to the third standard for that strand, and the 2 refers to the second benchmark for that standard.