RE: "To Test or Not to Test"
Standardized Testing is beneficial for several reasons
Dear Nancy,
I read your article in the Old Schoolhouse magazine about "To Test or Not to Test", and in a perfect world your position is a great ideal, however .....
Testing does have some positive points that are beneficial for homeschoolers.
First, National Standardized Testing shows how homeschoolers rank in the nation, compared to public and private schools. The reported test results have shown over and over again, HOMESCHOOLING WORKS ! This is a tremendous testimony and tool to promote the success of homeschooling.
HSLDA and other organizations regularly do studies using data from standardized tests.
Dr. Brian Ray has written numerous papers and has done studies on how well homeschoolers are performing compared to other school scenarios. He uses data from ITBS and other national standardized tests.
I was once a homeschool mom who believed as your article advances; that testing was a waste of time and generally not beneficial for the homeschool student. However, my opinion has changed and I know believe testing is beneficial for several reasons including:
1. Tracking your child's progress.
2. Identifying strengths & weakness in your curriculum.
3. A safeguard should you ever be challenged.
4. For proper placement if your child should have to return to public or private school.
5. Test-taking skills are helpful to prepare students for SAT/ACT and other standardized tests required for college entrance exams and employment.
There was a time when I was adamantly against the idea of testing homeschool children. I felt a parent who is genuinely teaching their child, has a close teacher-student relationship and would know if their student was progressing or not. The fact is deep inside every homeschool mom is that feared question "Am I doing enough? Are my children getting the best education possible?" I felt strongly that testing was something needed for large classroom situations, where the teacher may not have the time to intimately know the strengths and weakness of each student. Not so long ago I believed testing is needed for THOSE situations only. I also believed that teaching to the test is another side affect of required testing that thwarts advanced learning.
However, my opinion changed after my homeschool was challenged in court, and I was forced to have my children tested.
Imagine the stress, of your right to homeschool, being weighed in the balance, with emphasis on test results being a key decision for a non-homeschool friendly judge in the public court system.
I had never tested my children, yet I knew very well that they understood their lessons. As homeschoolers we teach for MASTERY. In my classes when my child does not get it, I present in another way, until they understand. We don't move on until they master the concept. That is the beauty of one-on-one teaching and tutoring. That is the reason why homeschooling is so successful.
Try explaining that to a judge who is not homeschool friendly. The judicial system wants something concrete to base decisions on. They want evidence.
And so it was, to my dismay and fears, my children were court ordered to be tested, not just once, but 5X in the course of the court battle. Every test battery out there was used; Stanford, Iowa Basic, California, psychological testing, and Sylvan Center testing.
Praise God, my (two) children far surpassed the testing, and scored consistently above the 90th percentile, across all test providers, except Sylvan who wanted to sell a tutoring program. The courts deemed Sylvan as a bias test result, because the results did not match the other independent test providers results.
My opinion was forever changed on the issue of "To Test or Not to Test". In hindsight, if I had regularly tested my children and had yearly standardized test results to provide to the court ~ I believe that alone would have shut down the court battle in stage one, and would have prevented the emotional and financial expense of the whole ordeal.
A great blessing I learned thru testing was that feared question "Am I doing enough? Are my children getting the best education possible? was answered with a resounding "YES! My children scored off the charts. In fact secondary tests were ordered by the court, after the first results came in because the judge questioned the results, she did not expect such high scores. When other independent tests came in, with similar score ranges, the argument ~ the case against homeschooling was shut down completely.
Lets put aside the unfortunate situation of being challenged in court.
There are other reasons why testing is beneficial and is a positive tool for homeschoolers.
Testing can identifying strengths & weakness in your curriculum. In the scramble before the court testing, I purchased several test prep books, and tried to prepare my children for the testing. I found weaknesses in some areas, such as language, grammar and punctuation. By using the test prep materials I saw areas that needed reinforcement. They were week spots in our curriculum. These areas were easily identified and corrected.
The test results showed very specific areas of weakness and strengths in each of my children. From these test results, I can now tailor specific curriculum to address both the weakness and strengths. For the weak areas, we know to work more in these areas. For the strengths, I look for more challenging curriculum to stretch my students understanding and excel their learning even more in these areas. Testing proved to be a great benefit for the identification of strengths & weakness in our curriculum.
Another benefit of standardized testing is tracking your child's progress. We test yearly, and I can see clear areas of improvement.
Lastly there is a benefit to the ART of test taking. My children are not no-longer afraid of testing. They know and understand testing is a required part of many aspects of school and work life. Colleges require admission testing. Many jobs require pre-screening and testing. Testing is a skill needed for life. Standardized tests help kids learn these skills.
HSLDA has research and data that shows achieving the 23rd percentile is the normal distribution for public schools in the United States. Homeschoolers regularly score in the 70-99 percentile range. Homeschooling Works - National Standardized Test Results are a concrete testimony of the success of homeschooling.
According to HSLDA, the 23rd percentile on standard achievement tests is nationally recognized as achieving grade level. See Ref: The Psychological Corporation, as cited at page 228 in the Right Choice, Home Schooling, by Christopher J. Klicka, Fourth Printing, 1995 by Noble Publishing Associates.
The best answer to the question "To Test or Not to Test" is why not? There are many benefits to testing, and the results are a positive testimony for the success of Homeschooling.
Sincerely,
Pam Courtney
courtneyschool@tds.net
Single parent homeschooling mom.
I have two children grades 5 and 9.
The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is a National Standardized Test for parents who desire testing for their 3rd- 12th grade children. The "Complete Battery" ITBS tests include reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, language usage, math skills, social studies, and science and reference materials.
Attached are two documents that were presented in court on Nov 9, 2007 regarding the homeschooling and testing of the Courtney children. These documents from HSLDA became a part of the court order. *When I previewed the comment, the docs (PDF) do not show up.*
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Posted by Pam Courtney 
Mar. 12, 2009 - Flowers
Cathy