Tip of the Week: Will My Student Be Testing Over Common Core Standards?

Will my student be required to take a test that is Common Core aligned?

The short answer, at least here in the Northwest, is… that depends.

Students enrolled in any of the online public school programs such as K-12, Clackamas Web Academy, or Connections Academy will definitely face tests that are Common-Core specific. For privately home-schooled students, the answer is no.  Your student will not face a test that is Common-Core specific. Nor are they likely to for several years so long as the admin rules are left substantively alone.

The achievement testing industry is market driven. And while the government bureaucrats would love to create a single file line for all students, public and private alike, remember that seven states have not adapted the Common Core Initiative. And, with the current president and Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, I highly doubt they’ll be advocating for increased educational conformity via the standards.

In other words, you can take a deep breath and relax for the time being.

Like I said, the achievement test industry is market driven. CTB/Data Recognition Corporation, the publisher of the Terra Nova series of national achievement tests, offers a variety of assessment possibilities:

• The Multiple Assessments Test
• The Complete Battery
• The Survey Battery
• The Plus Tests
• The TerraNova College-and Career-Ready Edition and Assessments

We use the Survey Battery and the Plus tests here at Basic Skills. The Survey Battery happens to be one of the most popular choices. The last option, the TerraNova College-and Career-Ready Edition and Assessments, is Common Core aligned. And from what I’ve been told by a publisher representative, it is the least popular in terms of sales, and it also doesn’t appear on the list of national achievement tests for homeschoolers here in Oregon.

So you don’t have to worry about your student being forced to take a test that is Common Core aligned.

Unless, of course, your student is enrolled in an online public school program. In that case, you might want to reconsider your involvement and chose to home school privately next year.

Privately home-schooled students: Don’t worry about your child being forced to take an achievement test that is aligned with Common Core standards.

That’s the tip of the week!

Curt Bumcrot, MRE