What is the source of the words in the Benchmark word lists?
The Benchmark word lists were compiled to include the words that appear most frequently (in our survey of leveled texts) in the books that children read from earlier levels to about end of grade four. In addition all word lists were checked with several different lists, including both Spache and Dolch. They are not identical to either list but there is a great deal of consistency across them. Finally, the lists were checked with teachers. The words that appear on the word lists are “tier 1 words,” meaning that they are frequently used in oral language and in general literature. The lists do not include “tier 2” and “tier 3” words—words not in common use or technical words related to content areas. These words are those that appear most frequently.
