Colorado Homeschool Testing Requirements and Alternative Options

End-of-year testing and 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. What your evaluation options are depends on which homeschool option you chose.

 

Homeschooling With the NOI

If you submitted the NOI (notice of intent) you are required to have your student complete a standardized test or evaluated by a “Qualified Individual” (known as a Professional Evaluation) in the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades. 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. If you choose this option, you must notify the school district that houses your NOI where you are storing your records. 

 

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

 

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. Each school has the authority to establish its own test or evaluation requirements. It’s important to know which standardized tests your school accepts as they can vary widely. Many 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.

 

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 test results. Some students simply do not do 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 for those 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 Strateros- there’s no charge. Other schools charge for you to submit a parent evaluation to them.

 

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. 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:

 

• ACT
• Basic Achievement Skills Inventory (BASI)
• Brigance Diagnostic Inventories– good for students with special needs.
• CAT (California Achievement Test) online & at home survey. 
• CLT 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12
• Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS)
• The Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP)
• ITBS- IOWA 
• Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-II Brief Form)
• Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT)
• PASS (Personalized Achievement Summary System) 3-8 Only
• SAT (Stanford Achievement Test)
• Stanford Online
• TerraNova/CTBS
• Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test

 

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. If you’re ready to get started with a professional evaluation? You can do that here. If you still have questions about our professional evaluation services you can email Heather or Colleen.