Nothing in this article should be considered legal advice. Members should consult HSLDA for state-specific legal information or answers to specific legal questions.
As a homeschool parent, you observe your child on a daily basis and can probably determine pretty accurately in which areas he is strong and in which areas he could use some maturity or additional help. His verbal interaction with you, his hands-on activities, written work, periodic subject-matter tests (if you use them), and his achievement of goals you have set for him are all informal indicators of his progress.
Many parents find it reassuring to have some sort of guidelines for academic milestones, such as Robin Sampson’s What Your Child Needs to Know When—with checklists for evaluating progress in language arts, math, science, and social studies (K–8th) as well as character development.
However, in some states, the law may require that you periodically demonstrate academic progress. Some states require standardized testing while others may allow for a teacher letter or some other form of evaluation. Regardless of the legal requirement, you may want to conduct a more formal assessment for your own purposes. Let’s face it—when the results come in, you often feel like those results are yours, not your child’s! So how can you lessen the anxiety—for you and your student?
Consider Your Options
The method you choose for your child will depend upon your state’s legal requirements, if applicable, and/or your family’s philosophical preference. Consider also the format that will best reflect your child’s true progress: While a visual learner may test well on paper, a hands-on or auditory learner may be better assessed by an evaluation or a test utilizing personal interaction, rather than a paper-and-pencil test. In that case, you might choose to administer a standardized test first, leaving time for a follow-up if the results don’t match what you’ve witnessed in his day-to-day progress, or you may opt for an untimed test to reduce testing anxiety.
The three most commonly used methods of assessment are standardized testing, evaluations, and portfolio submission.
Standardized Testing
You may remember these as the fill-in-the-circles tests. Standardized tests are developed by commercial test publishers to provide a snapshot of the academic skills and abilities of a large sampling of students of the same grade level; examples include the Stanford, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, California Achievement Test, to name a few. While we often think that standardized tests indicate how our child compares academically to grade-level expectations, they actually indicate how our child compares academically to other kids at his grade level who took the same test on a given date (the norming date for the specific edition of the test).
Know the Deadlines
Retest or Not?
“Why would I re-test?” you wonder. If your child scores below the acceptable percentile (which varies by state) or you believe his score was low for any of various reasons, you might want to consider re-testing or using another form of evaluation or assessment. For example, say you sent the test materials in for scoring and the next day he broke out in the measles, or later that night you realized he had a fever and could barely read the questions, or found out the next week that he needs glasses, etc. If you have reason to believe that the results were not an accurate reflection of his achievement, you might want to keep this option open.
Be aware of your state’s deadline to turn in results of testing or performance assessment. Be sure to order your tests in time to receive the scores back before that deadline. Check with the company for the expected turnaround time (for example, some testing sources are swamped in May and have 7-week turnarounds then, but April or June may be 2-week turnaround times). Remember to test early enough to retest if you would like to.
Know which scores are required by your state and in what format they should be reported. In many “testing” states, proof of progress may be required only in certain subjects—usually language arts and math (skills subjects). If this is the case, then testing in any other subjects is optional. You are welcome to test your child in science or history (or not), but you would not turn in any non-required scores to the superintendent. If you do choose to test in those other areas, remember that those are not sequential subject areas (while language arts and math are generally sequential), so your child may be tested on subject matter that was not necessarily covered in your program of study, but will be covered at a later date.
Prepare your Student
The test will have questions ranging from below the testing grade level to well above grade level, so it is important for your child to understand that you do not expect him to know all the answers. Otherwise, he may panic when he encounters material with which he is not familiar. As parents, we must remember that if and when we test our children in everyday studies, we do it to check that they have learned all the material presented and we expect (hope for?) a score of 100. Consequently, it is critical that the child understands that we don’t expect him to know all the answers on this test, but we simply want to find out how many he does know, that some of them are—deliberately—too hard for him, and he should just do his best. If a timed test is too stressful for your child, consider an untimed test, such as the Stanford 10, or another method of assessment (if possible).
Some Commonly Used Tests:
California Achievement Test (CAT)
Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS)
Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS)
Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford-10 or SAT, not to be confused with the College Board SAT).
PASS test (from Hewitt-standardized but not nationally normed)
Sources of Testing Materials Include:
Local groups
Your local support group or state organization may offer testing services.
Bayside Testing Service
1-800-723-3057
(Offers IQ tests, CAT, CTBS; prices vary by test and week of year, but are reasonable) Anyone who can read and follow directions may administer the tests.
Bob Jones University Press
1-800-845-5731
(ITBS, Stanford 10, and several others; about $35–40) Tester must have a bachelor’s degree to qualify as a tester, unless she is state certified to teach in a conventional school; she must also complete a one-time application/agreement with BJU. Orders can no longer be placed by telephone. The SAT-10 must be administered by a BJU-qualified test giver (someone who has viewed their training video and is on BJU’s list); your support group may own a copy of the BJU training video-check with your leader. Tester must send copy of 4-year degree/state certification to keep on file with BJU. Note: The Stanford 10 may be given as a non-timed test.
Christian Liberty Academy
1-847-259-4444
(CAT-6, about $25) Anyone who can read and follow directions may administer the tests.
Let’s Go Learn
(DORA and DOMA reading and math assessments) Online diagnostic assessments.
McGuffey Christian Academy
1-706-782-7709 (Stanford 7; Stanford 9 available for gr 1–3, $35) Anyone may administer this test(see above).
Seton Home Study
1-540-636-1250
(CAT short version, $25) Anyone who can read/ follow directions may administer the tests.
Another option is the Woodcock-Johnson battery of tests, which includes oral interaction/evaluation in addition to written work. This assessment must be administered by a qualified tester (check with educational services in your area).
Regardless of the testing mechanism you choose, it is important that you test with accuracy and integrity. Please honor the time limits on the test; if a timed test is too stressful for your child, consider an untimed test such as the Stanford 10, or another method of assessment (if allowed by your state). If you deviate from the instructions for any reason, you must annotate this for the scorers; otherwise, any results will be skewed; this is not to your child’s benefit in the long run. Following directions completely and faithfully helps to preserve this option for homeschooling parents.
Triangle Education Assessments
919-387-7004
(Iowa tests, Woodcock-Johnson III, CogAt, etc. $15–60) Standardized achievement tests, practice tests, cognitive abilities and career interest tests.
What Do the Scores Mean?
The percentile ranking tells how your child did compared to others—a score of 75th percentile means that your child scored as well or better than 75 out of 100 students in the norming group who took the same test. It does not mean that your child got only 75 percent of the questions right.
The stanine ranking (STAndard NINE) tells where your child’s score fell on a 9-part standard curve (imagine the 99 percentiles divided into nine sections). The 1st–3rd stanines would be below average, the 4th–6th would be average, and the 7th–9th would be above average.
The grade equivalent (example: 7.2 GE) simply means that a child in that grade/month (second month of seventh grade) would have done as well as your child did on the same test. It does not mean that your child is on a seventh-grade level (unless he is a seventh grader and scored as such). It does indicate to you that your fourth grader is doing well, or that your tenth grader needs some extra help.
Keep the Results in Perspective
Even if your child doesn’t do as well as you might expect, think of the test or evaluation as simply a tool to assess progress, to let you know the areas in which he is doing well and the areas in which you may need some work. Maybe you overestimated his understanding of a particular subject area. As you review the results, consider the goals you set earlier in the year. How did you do? Are you on target or do you need to adjust the course a bit to reach the desired destination on this “journey” of home education?
Remember that a test or evaluation is just one “snapshot” of his academic progress and of your child as a person. He is more than the sum of his test results! This time of year can be a wonderful reminder to thank God for this uniquely gifted child He has given you—and to trust Him to continue to guide your choices and approaches.
Evaluations
Who might benefit from an evaluation? Young children, students who don’t read well or quickly yet, children with learning challenges, or children who are extremely overwhelmed emotionally by testing.
An evaluation is simply the assessment of your child’s progress by an educational professional—usually a certified teacher or other educational professional. (In some states, this can also be anyone with a master’s degree in an academic discipline; check your state’s law.) The evaluator can let you know ahead of time what criteria will be evaluated so you can be prepared. You will generally want to have a portfolio of your child’s work, and your child will need to be available to sit and talk with the evaluator.
A few things to ask a potential evaluator:
How much experience do you have with evaluations?
What are your educational credentials?
Do you have any references I may call?
Do you have experience with homeschoolers? (Discern if she is “homeschool-friendly.”)
What are your criteria for evaluation? What will you be looking for/at?
What will you need from me/my child when you arrive (or we meet you)?
How long will our session be?
What do you charge?
How long will it take for me to receive your report?
Will you include recommendations or suggestions for me?
Do you have experience with LD students (if applicable)?
Does my child have to be able to read (or read well?) for you to evaluate him?
Have you worked with parents in my school district before and have you had any concerns with acceptance of your evaluations by our superintendent?
Remember that the acceptance of the report may be at the discretion of the school superintendent, depending upon your state law. He will want to be assured that your child is making adequate progress in the requisite areas of language arts and math.
Portfolios
A portfolio is simply a scrapbook or collection of highlights of your child’s work for the year. In some states, it can be turned in independently (without professional evaluator report; with parental report) for assessment by the superintendent in lieu of standardized test scores. Many parents simply find it helpful recordkeeping to compile a portfolio, even if only for personal use (or to share with the grandparents!).
A portfolio might include:
Samples of your child’s work at various times during the year (presented chronologically to show progress)—requires advance planning!
Scope/sequence of the curriculum used for language arts and math, in particular (When I used this option, I included a listing for all subjects, to show we provided a well-rounded program of study, but I included samples only of the required language arts and math work for the superintendent.)
Photos of your child doing school work, on field trips, on sports teams, socializing with others, etc.
List of field trips.
List/description of extracurricular activities.
Reading log.
For younger child, you might include a tape of your child reading at various times during the year.
List/description of projects and achievements.
You might include comments about each child’s progress. It is recommended that you not include the originals of any items, but make photocopies for the portfolio. You will want a receipt for the portfolio from the clerk who accepts it at the superintendent’s office.
(Some lesson planning books include spaces for all pertinent portfolio information. With work samples and photos added, this sort of plan book might be a simple method of portfolio preparation.)
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