Measuring Progress/Assessment

As you might imagine, when homeschooling, it is absolutely crucial that families use effective standards of assessment and record progress rigorously.  New York State requires quarterly narrative reports which include the total number of hours of instruction, a description of the material covered in each subject, and either a grade or a narrative evaluation of progress.  These also serve as "report cards," giving parents some insight into what is going on in the homeschool "classroom."  Of course, our staff and homeschool teachers keep in more frequent contact, updating parents on what has been accomplished and addressing any concerns that have arisen.

At the end of the school year, many homeschool students must submit the results of a standardized assessment as well. Students in third grade and younger are exempt from this requirement and those in 4th-8th grades must meet it only every other school year. For those that do not need to take a standardized test, when the 4th quarterly report is submitted, a detailed narrative evaluating progress is required.

While there are a number of standardized test options that New York State recognizes, the two tests that we prefer to use are the IOWA Achievement Test Series or the California Achievement Test (CAT). To find out if your child will be required to take one of these tests, please contact us.