Standardized exams give parents, students feedback
BevK December 9th, 2006
http://www.fortwayne.com/…el/16203249.htm
In a time when standardized test scores can dictate the success or failure of a public school, parents who home school their children are increasingly testing their children as well. Fort Wayne Area Home Schools, a Christian-based organization but open to families of any denomination, offers the Stanford Achievement Test each May. "Every year (participation) grows," said test proctor Shellie Burden, who estimates more than 100 children in the organization take the test annually. While there are "no concrete stats, the majority of home schoolers do give some form of testing," said Ian Slatter, spokesman for the Home School Legal Defense Association, a Virginia nonprofit support group for home-school families with about 82,000 members nationwide. Regulations vary, but only six states require home-schooled students to take an achievement test.
I will be testing this year because we live in a state that requires it. I stopped testing years ago. I did it at first to verify that we were doing "OK." When I no longer needed that validation, we get testing. Testing only seemed to confirm what I already knew about where my children excelled and where they struggled.
