Should I send my kids to take the state assessment test at the local school?

[Garga]

I live in Pennsylvania. They require testing in grades 3 and 5 and 8. My kids are in 3rd and 5th grade and I will probably have them take the ITBS test as I hear it is very good for giving a usable breakdown of a child's strengths/weaknesses.

 

However...here's a thought:

 

As far as I know a homeschooled child can take the state's assessment test (PSSA) at the local school if the homeschool family wishes it. It's free. I'm thinking of sending my kids to take it, as well as the ITSB at home.

 

Why would I do that?

 

Not for the actual test or the results, but rather for the experience. One day they're going to take tests where the results are crucial to their future (SAT, etc.). I don't think I want the first time they walk into a roomful of strangers sitting at desks ready to take a test in silence to be when they have the additional pressure of performing well on the test itself. I want them used to the idea of sitting in a foreign environment and pushing the discomfort aside to work on the test.

 

I'm not paranoid about the school system here. By law we must send in a portfolio to the local school each year and the people who review it at the school write little notes to my kids saying things like, "Cool project!" or "You look like you were having fun in that picture of you at the zoo!" We are not adversarial. The results for any tests they take (ITBS or whatever) are required in the portfolio, so taking the PSSAs in the school wouldn't reveal results that they wouldn't see anyway. I won't be giving them information they won't already get in one way or another.

 

Part of me thinks this is a great idea--to send the kids in for the test every year just for the experience.

 

Part of me wonders if I'm missing something.

 

What do you guys think?

 

P.S. The results of the test don't matter. They could totally bomb the test and no one can stop me from homeschooling. It's simply a hoop to jump through. The thing that could stop me from homeschooling is if the portfolio doesn't show that the children have learned something throughout the year. The test results do not matter--unless it's coupled with a weak portfolio. My portfolio won't be weak. We are very academic around here. I have reams of writing and math sheets and science workbooks, etc.

[Arcadia]

I don't think I want the first time they walk into a roomful of strangers sitting at desks ready to take a test in silence to be when they have the additional pressure of performing well on the test itself. I want them used to the idea of sitting in a foreign environment and pushing the discomfort aside to work on the test.

........

P.S. The results of the test don't matter. They could totally bomb the test and no one can stop me from homeschooling.

 

In that case, there is no harm in doing it.  My older (4th grader) would be taking the state tests for the third consecutive year and he has become a test veteran.  No test anxiety, able to follow verbal and written instructions and color the bubbles correctly. It just takes two mornings for him and hubby would take the day off and make it into a family fun day.  He brings along a thin jacket in case the examination room is too cold.  He also brings snacks and a drink in a Ziploc bag as the kids are allowed to eat during breaks or while waiting for the test or waiting for parents to pick up.

[ondreeuh]

Isn't the PSSA test specific to the state standards? If it is, and you are not following the scope & sequence and specifically preparing for it, then it might not tell you anything useful after all.

 

I have friends who actually request their child be exempt from the PSSA because the test is so pressured in their school. Teachers drill into the kids the importance of doing well. So to me, it seems like it's very tied to specific school performance and could be irrelevant to a homeschooler.

 

(Though it would be awesome if your homeschooled kids did better on the PSSA than the PS kids (who were being prepped to death)).

[Dmmetler]

My concern would be sending a 4th grader to take a test in a room where he's the only stranger. My DD tests with other kiss frequently due to math competitions and talent search, but rarely do more than a couple of kids in the room know each other, so they're all on the same playing field, but when I contacted the local schools about my DD testing there, they told me that they'd simply put her in a class at her grade level for those days. I think that would be tough.

[Garga]

Isn't the PSSA test specific to the state standards? If it is, and you are not following the scope & sequence and specifically preparing for it, then it might not tell you anything useful after all.

 

I have friends who actually request their child be exempt from the PSSA because the test is so pressured in their school. Teachers drill into the kids the importance of doing well. So to me, it seems like it's very tied to specific school performance and could be irrelevant to a homeschooler.

 

(Though it would be awesome if your homeschooled kids did better on the PSSA than the PS kids (who were being prepped to death)).

I'll be using another test for feedback on their strengths/weaknesses. Probably the ITBS.

 

Taking the PSSA would simply be an exercise in walking into a roomful of kids and taking a test. The results wouldn't matter in the slightest. It would be for the experience and not for the scores.

[Loowit]

We can send our kids to the public school here for testing on the years that they test. However, they don't test every year here in public schools even though homeschoolers must test every year.  I have opted not to use the public schools for a number of reasons.  I wouldn't be able to do it every year, so on the off years I would still need to find somewhere to test.  I don't want the public schools to have access to test scores, unless i think it is necessary like for services or whatever.  If we test privately they only have access if we decide to enter them into public schools.  I don't see sending them into a classroom of kids that have known each other all year, or for years, as at all the same as going to take SAT/ACT tests.  We have chosen to test through a person that tests locally for homeschoolers.

 

If you think it is worth trying, then I don't see anything wrong with it.  If you try it and don't like it you can do something else the next time you need to test.

[TracyP]

I plan on testing through the public school next year for the same reasons. My dd will be in 5th grade, which I think is a good age to practice testing under difficult circumstances. I also would like to see how she compares - apples to apples - with her ps peers. I know another homeschooler who tests through the school, although she states that her reason is to bump up the averages of the local school district. ;)

 

Another option I am considering is EXPLORE. Here is a link in case you would like to *ahem* explore that option.

[RootAnn]

I'd probably wait a bit (like 8th) for the experience you are looking for. I do plan on sending my kids into the testing environment at the PS *before it counts* -- but that'll be 9th or 10th w/the PSAT, I think.