Iowa Tests

One of the homeschooling laws for Arkansas is that every April students in grades 3-9 have to take the reading and math sections of the Iowa Test.  You cannot pass/fail the test.  The only person that receives the results is the parents.  The state receives the results as a whole showing what percentile homeschoolers scored in.  The Iowa Test is a basic skills test.  It is not even an accurate measure of what a child should/should not know for their age group.  Some children have a hard time taking tests and will not score well even though they have mastered the concept.  I think standardized testing is an absolute waste of time but since it is a law, we comply.

Today was our test day for our local homeschool group.  Nick (4th grade) was the only one of my children to take the test this year.  We had to be there early since I had to unlock the doors and help set up and get organized.  The test started at 9:30 and everyone was finished by 11:30.  Nicholas and another girl his age told me that they remembered some of the exact same questions from the test last year.  They all seemed to think the questions were very easy.  The test results will arrive some time this summer.

Since the whole morning was wasted and testing finished at lunchtime, we grabbed some pizzas and ate at a friend's house.  Tomorrow we will be able to get back to work as usual.