.I have been asked about evaluations and testing. Here are our Live Oak Academy policies.Regards testing:
I do not encourage testing a child below the 4th grade, unless there is a particular reason to do so.
For the little kids I just want samples of their work along with quarterly progress reports on what has been covered in studies and whether each topic has been Introduced, learned to Familiarity, Competence or Mastery.
Older students keep similar records but MAY also take a test.
I define mastery as "uses the subject skills or knowledge well to achieve his or her own purposes in life".Above 4th grade, I do have the California Achievement Test available, but decide with the parents whether or not it is appropriate or important for the child to take it.
Reasons to take it:
- Parent wants to know how their kids compare to others in "regular school".
- A grandparent, husband, ex-spouse or other relative complains about homeschooling and we want to show the child is learning just as well as in a "regular school" or better!
- Progress reports are not very complete and I am not sure how much has actually been done.
- Sometimes we use this test to give a child confidence that he is making it on his own studies or to "prove" to him that he did indeed finish the equivalent of that grade (or more!).
- Sometimes I use it diagnostically at the end of a year to pick up any loose ends that should be covered at the end of the year's work (in this case I go over the answers with a fine tooth comb and give written instructions of what to cover to parent to fill in gaps).
- Another reason would be if a child is going to go back in the school system or to college and needs something official on the transcripts to be accepted.
Reasons I would not use the test:
So you see I tailor what we do to what is right for the family. You are free to give me your views and desires on it.
- A child is behind and we are NOT stressing grade levels, but just helping the child to catch up without labels or stress,
- A child has had a very bad time in school and we want him to chill out, have fun and regain the joy of learning before any measuring of what he has learned.
- Another reason would be that the family is into an enthusiastic learning mode - everything they do is educational and the child reads with abandon way ahead of his age. In this case we may not want to bother introducing any of the idiocies and arbitraries of the graded school system - and with no reason to do it, we just don't. Etc.
Regards grading:
I do not use grades either unless there is a reason to, for example:
- if a child wanted to go to another school at some point, like a public magnate school, or parent had to go back to work and could not homeschool anymore. I have had both those situations: in that case the parent gave grades for the year's work, and I gave a California Achievement Test to do at home, then adjusted the grades given based on the test results. The children were then accepted at the grade level of work we designated and into the program wanted.
- An older student wants to work for grades for a challenge, and parent agrees this motivates the student in his work.
- High school students who need or want a grade point average, also high school students planning to go on to college. Then we work out how to measure these grades based on work done, quality and quantity of the work, extra credit study, tests in text books used, and so on. A "learning contract" can be made with the student for non-traditional methods of study designating how much work will earn an "A", a "B", a "C". I still expect mastery - that the work will result in usable skills and knowledge which help a student achieve his or her purposes in life. Not all high school students are motivated, so the family has to work this out and what their goals actually are.
Other than that, and assuming the parent is working with the student and the work turned in to the school is of expected quality, grades are not required on all work done.
As I said above the parent just lets me know what the child's level of achievement is on what they are studying: topic has been Introduced, or Learned to Familiarity, Competence or Mastery. After all in homeschooling there is no reason for a child to get a "C" or fail, or to go on past something they haven't understood! Homeschooled students can work on any subject until they understand it. And the family can return to any subjects that a child wasn't ready for, when it is more appropriate. Also families can decide how they will study a subject in order to understand it, so they will find it useful in their lives and be competent using it.
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