We live in Colorado and if you are part of an independent school you have the option to do an evaluation of your students and not test. I'm considering this bc I have a son who is above his grade level but isn't a test taker. My daughter tested last year and it was stressful for us both. I honestly don't know that I agree with testing at all. Anyone take this route or am I just trying to take the easy way out?:|
In Michigan, there are no tests or evaluations. We don't even have to tell anyone we're homeschooling. Home school documentation of any sort is totally foreign to me. Only reason I can think of for enduring testing, is if you wanted to put your child in public school in the next couple years. If that's not your plan, I can't see why an evaluation wouldn't work just as well if that's a legal option.
We live in PA - 2nd only to NY in regulation (and believe you me, not moving north anytime soon). We are REQUIRED to test in 3rd, 5th and 8th Grades, other than that, I do not test. Well, backtrack, I have a high schooler that I will be having her take SAT's w/in the next year. We also have to have our children evaluated annually. Do they tell you WHICH test he has to take? In PA there are 8 approved tests. One of them is called the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (or the PIAT). It is a verbally given one-on-one test. My middle, especially, is not a good test taker, and he does EXCELLENT with this method. Evaluators are nice, though, because I think they get a broader picture of a child's learning process and growth than a test ever can. We've had the same evaluator since the beginning of our journey, and it's amazing to go back and look at her notes on my kids.
We have the option of testing or evaluation. I don't know anyone in our area that tests annually. I have also had the same evaluator since beginning homeschool. I prefer evaluation because my son is not a test taker either. The evaluator also has great ideas on how to help my son. If he is having difficulty with a curriculum she suggests others based on his learning style or problem areas. I don't think your taking the easy way out. Debbie
We have 3 options in FL. Testing, evaluation by a psychologist, or evaluation by a teacher. We chose the latter
Here in NY we are required to test every other year between 4th and 8th grades (most of us do 5th & 7th, rather than 4th, 6th , & 8th) and every high school year (9th-12th). I don't think testing shows anywhere near what my kid really knows, but we jump through the hoops so the district stays off our backs. Ds just took his 7th grade test last week, actually (the CAT-E). It's not that big of a deal. It's cheap, it's an easy 5 sections of reading, language arts, and math, and having those scores was one of the main reasons my youngest dd got into a top NYC high school. Ds is going to continue homeschooling, but hey, these tests are way better than all the nonsense he'll be avoiding in high school. LOL.
When I was hs my DS, I was working on the multidisciplinary team in ps, so I had access to the tests we used at work. At the end of the year, I'd borrow a Woodcock-Johnson battery over a weekend and test him myself. Then I'd send that result in to the state, because at that time we were doing Approved Home Study. The options for that were test, portfolio, letter from a teacher certified to teach at the student's level. Test was easiest. After I retired, I started schooling Other People's Kids, and used the Iowa, until our state adopted a version of the Iowa and I couldn't get it privately anymore. Then I finally found the Stanford 10, and a way to be recognized as a school not a homeschool, and I've used it ever since. If nobody enrolls by this fall, that will be over with, so I'll probably still use the Stanford but get it from BJU or somebody in North Carolina you can order from. (If that doesn't work out for some reason, I still have a tote full of PIAT and WRAT.) i won't be schooling anyone but my grandson(s) in that case. i do/have done it mainly so the parents of OPKs could see that their kids were actually learning while with me - so, as an accountability measure to the parents. Although I *know* that a test is only a snapshot of a limited portion of what's been learned, it still feels good to see those scores go up year after year.
I am required by law to give a nationally standardized test each year. I print out and give exams upon occasion just for our home usage. I want the kids to be able to take exams without being too nervous. Even non academic jobs require various tests upon occasion. Start with the CAT, you can get it give it and have it scored for 25 dollars per student. Also know that the actual tests are not nearly as hard as the test prep test booklets. We did test preps and the kids were very nervous and the test were like a cake walk after those. I like to know for sure where we are week. There is nothing like watching your student struggle with something you thought they had down on an exam to bring reality to light. We found a weekness with both students and had the opportunity to remediate it.
Where as you would not move north I would never move to PA from NY because of the regs. NYS it really is just paperwork and very little interaction with your district. I would so not want to deal with an evaluator just let me send in my report and that be it. We do narratives on off years from testing although I am considering sending in test scores instead of the narrative this year too. We choose to do the testing each year just so dd has practice with it. I have to write up my last quarterly so I need to decide if I want to write a brief narrative or do the test scores. I will probably just give in and write up the narrative, it is really not a big deal
I have stopped testing, but only because I did not see much value in it anymore. Why do your children stress over testing? Perhaps the way it is approached is an issue. Do they know they are being evaluated for any legal reason? I always enjoyed the ITBS myself and my children do too. But, it is not required here, so the kids are not worried about the test. But, when they were in public school, there was always so much stress over the testing there because they were often being told if they don't pass, they will flunk, and so on. Maybe you could do the evaluation for the official records, but do testing, not to be sumitted, so the kids are not worried. Once they get used to that, you could go back to testing. I do not see a lot of value in testing, so I just don't do it now. I will likely do it next year because one of the kids will be in 7th grade and we will be gearing up for the PSAT and SAT so I would like to see where he stands for that and let him practice in a low stress environment. By the way, I administer my own ITBS. Can you do that? Because perhaps that is why there is no stress here.
Here it is: http://www.nwea.org/node/98 I had to look it up too.It is the one our local school district suggests and it is taken at home on the computer. So it is easy.
My kids have a little bit of nervousness, but are at the same time excited when it is test time. They like having the feedback and knowing that they are not way behind their peers. After testing their attitudes are actually improved and their confidence is increased.
I have never tested my children. We have done portfolio evaluation. Faythe will be sitting for her ACT test tomorrow (so if anyone wants to pray for her, it would be greatly appreciated!)
She just got home. She's fairly confident that she did pretty well. She was able to finish all but the math, and was OK with that. So now is a waiting game to see the results.
LOL Thankfully WE get to choose the evaluator! I loooooooooooove ours!!! I call her the homeschooling equivalent of valium! I am always panicked and stressed, she is always calm and nurturing!!! She's also more of a friend/mentor than an evaluator. I believe that's truly the key. Only for their Sr. Year in HS will they need to be evaluated by the head of our diploma program. But I hear he's a real pushover! If the STATE or DISTRICT chose our evaluator, I would absolutely abhor this step!!!!
