{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Carolina del Norte para la educaci\u00f3n en el hogar","provider_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/es_pr","author_name":"Spencer Mason","author_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/es_pr\/author\/spencer-mason\/","title":"Let\u2019s Talk about Achievement Tests - North Carolinians for Home Education","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"R4393Dw2IU\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nche.com\/es_pr\/lets-talk-about-achievement-tests\/\">Hablemos de las pruebas de rendimiento<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/nche.com\/es_pr\/lets-talk-about-achievement-tests\/embed\/#?secret=R4393Dw2IU\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#171;Let\u2019s Talk about Achievement Tests&#187; &#8212; North Carolinians for Home Education\" data-secret=\"R4393Dw2IU\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/nche.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lets-talk-about...testsimage1000.426.jpg","thumbnail_width":1000,"thumbnail_height":426,"description":"[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22&#8243;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_3,1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.6.6&#8243;] 29 Jan 2014 Note: This online version of this article has been edited to update some information about the Stanford Achievement Test. Our Philosophy on Testing Achievement testing is the educational topic most likely to incite questions and concerns among homeschoolers. Homeschool parents have questions about the nature of achievement testing and why some states require testing for homeschoolers. Many parents also become concerned that their children\u00a0pass\u00a0their grade at the end of the year. Given these concerns and questions, it is no wonder that some parents become quite contentious altogether about the topic! As test administrators, we meet with many families who are anxious about testing. It\u2019s natural, really. How often does the idea of testing have a positive connotation? When was the last time you thought of a medical test as something to eagerly anticipate? Even in the spiritual realm, few of us look forward to going through testing. We know that something is being measured, and we fear that we will miss a mark that somebody has set for us. As homeschooling parents, we often feel as if we are being tested as well as our child. Somehow the idea settles upon us that test results will validate our homeschool, and the anxiety levels begin to rise. Our children can easily catch this anxiety from us, even without a single word to them. We, your authors, are homeschooling mothers, too, and we get it\u2014believe me, we get it! Let us encourage you\u2014no test validates how successful your homeschool year has been. No achievement test measures the things that truly matter in life\u2014how faithful your child is, how she has grown in her spiritual life, whether his heart is one of service to his family and his neighbors, whether she learned to do her chores cheerfully. The academic arena is important, but it is not the most important. Don\u2019t lose sight of the bigger picture as testing season approaches. Relax a bit, and your children will, too. The test is simply a tool; it is not your judge! The information you receive in results is yours alone. Use the results as a tool to shore up the weaker areas that may be revealed and to challenge your students more deeply in areas of higher ability\u2014or even (gasp!) let them coast for the next year in those strong areas. As we discuss some of the nuts and bolts of testing that can help you learn to use this tool in your homeschooling toolbox, keep the larger picture in mind. Types of Tests North Carolina law requires all homeschool students to take an achievement test each year without exception. Parents may choose from any number of nationally normed achievement tests. What are nationally normed achievement tests? In the world of education there are three kinds of assessments\u2014aptitude, criterion referenced and norm-referenced. Aptitude tests measure a student\u2019s innate skills or aptitude for a particular subject, job, etc. The military offers an aptitude test for service applicants. The SAT is an aptitude test that predicts how well a student will do academically in college. (Though that claim is in question today, the SAT does sort students by academic aptitude.) Some companies and organizations offer career aptitude tests that help students decide what career options fit their personal traits. Criterion referenced tests measure student achievement on a particular set of material. The tests I used to develop and give to my chemistry classes were criterion referenced. I wanted to see how much they absorbed and understood of the specific material I taught them. Some states (like NC public schools) have end of course or end-of-grade tests which measure student success on the particular material taught. These school system tests are not required of homeschoolers because the tests were developed for public school curriculum. Norm referenced tests are generally described as\u00a0nationally normed and standardized. This means the tests were developed to measure achievement levels in a general sense. The method used to develop these tests involves designing questions on general material, testing the questions in a national pool, then developing normative data on the test from a large and diverse sample of students in each grade level. Choosing a large and diverse sample test creates a profile of the average student in\u00a0a grade level. Of course, no such average student really exists, but the average scores do allow us to compare our particular student to expected levels of achievement in each grade level. The standardized label refers to the requirement that these tests be given in a specified manner that levels the testing field for all students taking test. The Nationally Normed Standardized Achievement Test It is the nationally-normed, standardized achievement test that NC homeschool students are required to take each year. There are specific tests in this category. Some of the most popular for homeschools are: IOWA, also called the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills), CAT (California Achievement Test), TerraNova (newest version of the CAT), Stanford (most often used by private and Christian schools), Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test (W-J) and Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills II (Brigance CIBS). The IOWA, CAT\/TerraNova, ITBS and Stanford tests were originally developed for classroom administration. All of these are probably familiar to most people because they have been used in schools for decades, and you probably took them with your class when you were in school. All of these\u00a0are multiple choice tests that have time restrictions One exception to the time restrictions is the Stanford which\u00a0is no longer timed in either the paper or online form. The Stanford is a good option for students who typically work at a slower than average pace. In today&#8217;s electronic age, many testing companies are going towards online administration.\u00a0 Not only is the Stanford now given without time restrictions, but homeschoolers now have the option of administering this test on the computer in their own home.\u00a0 The BASI is another computerized achievement test which is offered in testing [&hellip;]"}