A Rose By Any Name: Exit Tickets
For more than two decades, the dominant form of progress monitoring in American schools has been benchmark testing — interim assessments designed to predict how students would perform on end-of-year, high-stakes state exams. These benchmarks were never truly about instruction. They were about accountability, about finding the “bubble kids” who could be pushed over the passing line, and about reporting gains to satisfy federal and state policy.
But the shift away from this expensive and time-consuming practice is finally gaining steam. In 2025, Texas passed HB 8, banning district-level benchmark testing, STAAR practice tests, and test-prep as a district-sanctioned practice. As the second most populous state, the passage of the new law marks the official beginning of the end of the benchmark era.
Though none as sweeping as TX HB 8, other states have been making moves over the last decade:
- Florida FAST (2022): Replaced the Florida Standards Assessments with three through-year “progress monitoring” tests in reading and math, designed to reduce reliance on local benchmarks.
- Louisiana LEAP 360 (2017): a statewide initiative to embed short, curriculum-connected assessments throughout the year rather than relying on bulky end-of-year tests or district-level benchmarks.
- New York (2015 reforms): Scaled back interim assessments, aka benchmark testing, after widespread parent opt-out movements, shifting the focus to teacher-driven formative checks.
- California (CAASPP & Smarter Balanced IABs): Encourages teachers to use Interim Assessment Blocks that can be embedded into instruction, moving away from districtwide predictive tests.
- Tennessee (TNReady): Piloted “checkpoint” assessments in place of traditional benchmarks, tying them directly to instructional standards in 2016.
Together, these moves signal discontent with the assessment practices that have come to dominate K-12 schools and suggest the United States is entering a post-benchmark era. The old ways of measuring learning are giving way to more instructionally supportive, real-time approaches.
The End of Benchmarks as Accountability Tools
Benchmarks were always a compromise. Districts gave them a few times a year in hopes of predicting state test results. But by the time the data came back, the teaching had already moved on. The tests told teachers what they already knew — weeks too late to do anything about it.
And because benchmarks existed to serve accountability systems, not instruction, they often warped practice. Teachers were told to “teach the tested standards,” pull small groups of bubble students, or recycle test items. Instruction narrowed; test prep flourished.
With Texas HB 8, that cycle is broken. Districts can no longer rely on test-prep calendars. In Louisiana’s LEAP 360, state officials are acknowledging the same truth: if assessments don’t serve daily instruction, they don’t serve students.
Enter the Exit Ticket
The exit ticket is not new. Teachers have used them for years as quick “checks for understanding” at the end of a lesson. What is new is that exit tickets are being recognized as the most effective replacement for benchmarks.
Why? Because exit tickets are:
- Immediate: Data comes back today, not weeks later.
- Curriculum-Aligned: They test what was just taught, not a distant blueprint.
- Actionable: Teachers can reteach tomorrow based on results.
Instructionally Embedded: They don’t take away from teaching time; they are part of teaching time.
A Rose By Any Name
Not every district calls them “exit tickets.” Some call them:
- Checks for Understanding
- Demonstrations of Learning (DoLs)
- Quick Writes
- Checkpoints
- Wrap Ups
But the principle is the same: frequent, short, embedded assessments that measure today’s learning to guide tomorrow’s instruction.
Unlike benchmarks, they belong to teachers. Exit tickets are part of the rhythm of the classroom, not an externally imposed event.
What This Means for Districts
For district assessment departments, this shift may feel like an earthquake. Entire job roles have been built around designing, administering, and analyzing benchmarks. Under laws like HB 8 and policies like Louisiana 360, those roles will have to evolve.
Instead of being test creators, districts must become instructional partners, supporting teachers with tools and training for daily progress monitoring. That means more focus on:
- Building a culture of formative assessment.
- Training teachers to use exit ticket data effectively.
- Investing in digital platforms that make exit tickets fast, reliable, and autograded.
The Role of Technology
The real breakthrough is that exit tickets no longer have to be clunky or time-consuming. With platforms like Classwork.com, teachers can generate exit tickets with a click, students complete them digitally, and results are autograded and reported instantly — by standard, class, or student.
This removes the barrier that once kept exit tickets underused: the workload of creating, grading, and analyzing them. Now, they scale. They can replace benchmarks not just in theory, but in practice.
The Future: Instruction Over Test Prep
Texas’s HB 8, Louisiana’s LEAP 360, Florida’s FAST, and reforms in states like New York and California all signal the same larger movement: away from accountability-driven testing and toward instructionally meaningful progress monitoring.
Benchmarks and practice tests may have served their political purpose, but instructionally, they were always limited. The exit ticket — whatever name it goes by — is emerging as the true workhorse of progress monitoring. It puts assessment back where it belongs: in the service of teaching and learning.
Graphic: The Shift in Progress Monitoring
From Benchmarks to Exit Tickets
Old Model (Benchmarks & Practice Tests)
| 2-4 times per year |
| Data lags weeks behind instruction |
| Broad, predictive |
| Built for accountability |
| Belongs to districts |
New Model (Exit Tickets / Checks for Understanding)
| Daily or weekly |
| Data is instant |
| Targeted, tied to today’s lesson |
| Built for teaching |
| Belongs to teachers |