End-of-year testing and/or evaluation is often a huge source of stress for many homeschool parents as the end of the school year draws close. Colorado homeschool law requires that homeschool students be tested or evaluated periodically to ensure that they are making academic progress in line with their abilities. Your options for testing and/or evaluation depends on which homeschool option you chose to homeschool under for that year.
Option 1: Homeschooling With the Notice of Intent (NOI)
If you submitted the NOI (notice of intent), you are required to have your student complete a standardized test or be evaluated by a “Qualified Individual” (known as a Professional Evaluation) in the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades. The choice is yours and you do not need to do both. The results of the test or evaluation must then be submitted to the school district where you submitted your NOI. If you do not want to send results to the school district, you can send them to a private school like Statheros Academy for storage. Statheros Academy offers an option for non-enrolled families to hold your test scores if you homeschool under NOI and if you are not enrolled in an umbrella school. If you choose this option, you must notify the school district that houses your NOI where you are storing your records. You can do so on your yearly NOI or you can send a letter later notifying them if you change the location that will house the records to a school such as Statheros Academy. INSERT HERE STATHEROS LINK AND INFO ON TEST RESPOSITORY
Standardized tests accepted by the state include (links to each of these can be found below):
California Achievement Test (CAT)
Iowa Assessment
Iowa Test of Educational Development (ITED)
Stanford Achievement Test (SAT)
TerraNova CTBS
Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test
Option 2: Homeschooling With An Umbrella (Private) School
If you are homeschooling with an umbrella school such as Statheros Academy, you are required to comply with the evaluation or testing requirements of your umbrella school instead of complying with the testing schedule outlined above for those homeschooling under NOI. Each school has the authority to establish its own test or evaluation requirements. It’s important to know which standardized tests your umbrella school accepts as they can vary widely. Many schools will accept a professional evaluation in lieu of a standardized test. Only a few umbrella schools in Colorado, three to be exact, will accept a parent evaluation, and Statheros Academy is proud to be the only one who provides these free of charge to all enrolled families.
Option 3: Homeschooling with a Licensed Teacher
The third option to homeschool in Colorado is with a licensed teacher and this option is rarely used so we will not explore this option in this article. If you are a licensed teacher in CO and want to homeschool your children and you have questions, please reach out and we will assist.
Evaluation Options With Statheros Academy
We know just how stressful evaluations can be so our goal at Statheros Academy is to make it easy and as stress-free as possible. With Statheros as your umbrella school, you have several options so that you can choose the one that best fits your family’s and your student’s needs.
Professional Evaluations- A professional evaluation is a great option for students whose abilities are not well represented by standardized tests. Some students simply do not perform well on standardized tests even though they have mastered the material. This can be due to test anxiety, learning differences, or other special needs. This is also a wonderful option for those who would like reassurance from a licensed teacher that their student is performing up to his or her potential. Our evaluators are licensed teachers in the state of Colorado and can give you professional and personalized insight into your child’s education.
Parent Evaluations – A parent evaluation is a good option for those homeschool parents who are confident in their teaching ability and the academic achievements of their students and are opposed to standardized testing. You know your child better than anyone and we feel that as a parent educator, you have a unique advantage when it comes to evaluating your child’s progress. That is why parent evaluations are actually our preferred option. Another advantage to parent evaluations with Statheros Academy- there’s no charge. Other schools charge for you to submit a parent evaluation to them and with Statheros Academy, it's an included feature.
Standardized Tests – We do not require or administer standardized testing, but we do accept it as an option. If you would like the convenience of a test or would like to be able to see how your child’s results compare to other students their age, standardized testing may be the right option for your family. You can inquire at your local public or private schools as well as homeschool co ops and enrichment programs to see if your child can test there (usually for a small fee) or you can look into tests that you administer at home yourself. Below is a list of places to start. We want you to have the freedom to choose the test that you feel will best showcase your child’s academic abilities, so we accept several standardized tests including but not limited to:
CAT (California Achievement Test) online & at home survey.
CLT 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12
Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-II Brief Form)
Stanford Achievement Test (online)
If you don’t see the testing option you’d like to use, just reach out to us. We want you to be able to use the evaluation or testing option that you feel is best for your family and your student. Don’t let end-of-year evaluations stress you out. Statheros Academy is here to help you navigate the process. Are you ready to get started with a professional evaluation? You can do that here. If you have other questions about our professional evaluation services, you can email Kim or Colleen. We exist to serve you!