Is it time for standardized testing in your homeschool? Our story.
I’ve spoken before about our own decision to homeschool. One of the things that factored into that decision was that my kids were not standardized kids and I was anxious about high stakes testing and the impact it could have on their mental health. So it might seem odd that I’m gonna tell you about our recent standardized testing experience.
We got to the point where I needed to get a better idea of where we needed to be focusing. While homeschool testing isn’t required by the state I live in I knew it was time.
Why we decided to standardized test
My boys are now in 5th and 7th grade and although we have done a little online testing to just keep a log of their improvement from year to year in reading and math. Standardized testing appeared on our radar and we felt like this was a great time to just get a glimpse of where they are compared to the mythical standard.
I also have one quickly approaching high school and achievement testing is a great way to practice his test-taking skill before the ACT or SAT.
I was compensated for my time reviewing this product. We chose to test with Homeschool Testing Services for the Stanford -10 test and will be testing again annually or every other year. One of the reasons that we like this particular test was the lack of time constraints.
As you can see below, we tested at the kitchen table. I didn’t have to take any special training or leave the house. It was easy to administer and gave me the information I was looking for.
Now my kids (like most kids) experience uneven development of skills and so this was not used to determine what they know or there worth. This was really for me to see. In fact, the kids didn’t ask to see their results and I didn’t share them with them. The data acquired from our standardized testing guides instruction, curriculum planning, and the direction of what’s to come next year.
What kind of data are you gathering from a standardized test?
This test gives you a lot of information about a lot of areas. The areas include language, reading, math, spelling, science, social science, listening, thinking skills, and more. Your results give you as the person in charge of your child’s education lots of good information. This is a snapshot of where your child is and to help you see growth from year to year. This is not punitive to anyone.
Data should never be something we look at negatively. Homeschool Testing Services has an awesome video to explain how to interpret the scores once you receive them.
The Stanford 10 is testing in many areas and gives you lots of information in your score report. You’ll get the raw score for each category and test. The max points that were available. The adjusted raw score that takes into account the difficulty of the questions answered correctly.
Several types of information to use in comparison. The percentile score which tells you that you are child did equal or better than the percentage of students listed that took the exam. Then two levels of comparison that are using a bell curve of the testing scores rather than raw data. There is a grade equivalent for each sub-test and category.
A level of proficiency assigned gives you a quick reference to see areas of strength or weakness. Your child is also given a Lexile score which is great to have when you are heading to the bookstore or library.
Does this change what we are doing?
Like any healthy assessment, the purpose is to guide the future. What we are doing seems to be working. I didn’t find any areas of weakness I wasn’t aware. The best thing for me was seeing areas of strength that I didn’t know my kids had. It was very reaffirming as a homeschooling family to see that we aren’t totally screwing them up.
I’ll also be using this as a way to continue to evaluate how well a curriculum is working for our kids and when we might need to be making a switch. All in all, I feel like biting the bullet and testing has only helped to make our homeschool stronger.
