Question for Arkansas families

[Kelly in IL]

Hi

My husband has an interview in Arkansas. We've always lived in very lenient homeschooling states with no testing, etc. I have one child in particular who is not going to hold up well under the pressure of standardized testing. Can anyone give me some feedback on exactly what the process is in Arkansas for homeschoolers, how often you have to test, and under what conditions the testing takes place?

Thanks

Kelly

[Dobela]

Standardized testing is not a big deal in Arkansas. Yes, you do have to do it but it has no effect on your homeschooling. Last year in April my son took the required portions of the IOWA at a church (who was happy to host the testing). It started at 8:30 ish and they were finished by noon with breaks between sections. They were only tested on part of the reading portion and part of the math portion of the IOWA (ITBS). Last year it was Reading Comprehension, Math Problem Solving and Data Interpretation, and Reading Critical Thinking at my son's grade level.

 

Depending on where you live, there are usually several choices for a testing site. The site provides proctors. For my son, there were so many kids (and this is a large church) that they were divided by grade into classrooms with a couple of adults per room. Several weeks later I received the test scores. That's it until next spring when we will redo the whole process. I think some office inthe state receives scores as well but they can't use them for anything. If you chose to not take the test you can be charged with truancy however.

 

For more information on homeschooling in Arkansas, you can also visit the website for Education Alliance www.arkansashomeschool.org or send me a PM. More information on next years testing is found at http://www.arhomeschooltesting.org/

[Pam H]

My experience has been very much like Dobela's. :001_smile:

[Kelly in IL]

Thank you for all the information - I feel much less concerned now!

Kelly