Some states require homeschoolers to take the statewide standardized testing, but as far as I know, not even public schools administer nationalized tests to their students. There is the PSAT/SAT and the ACT, but these are college entry exams. The ITBS is the Iowa state test. The TAKS is the Texas state test. The CAT is the California state test. I could go on, but I think I have made my point: Each state’s Board of Education sets their own standardized testing.
I’m in Texas where homeschools are considered private schools. Anyone can homeschool. There is no governing body. Not only that, homeschoolers do not have to inform their intent to homeschool the local ISD or to the state BOE. The ONLY reason a homeschooler should inform the local ISD is to formally withdraw a child from public school. That said, the state of Texas did set a minimum core curriculum for all homeschools to remain legal, which includes the teaching of good citizenship, math, reading, spelling, and grammar. Other states have their own laws governing what’s legal regarding homeschoolers, some of which are extremely regulated. Texas happens to be one of the most, if not the most, unregulated states regarding homeschooling. (FWIW, most homeschoolers (and all of those who I know personally) include far more than just the minimum subjects required to be legal homeschoolers.)
Tests administered for diagnostic purposes are a good idea in any educational scenario. It informs the teacher of placement needs and possible gaps in learning. These are not standardized tests. They are educational tools.
Schools submit to standardized testing to get money from the state. Money is the sole purpose of standardized testing. (Homeschoolers respond, “Thanks, but no thanks.”) With government money comes strings. There are always strings. In the case of education, the string attached is a say in the curriculum. Teachers no longer have the liberty to cater to the needs of the learner. Teachers use what the state tells them to use in order to teach everyone the same way at the same time. The result is ‘cookie cutter’ education, which fits only the norm and leaves behind the gifted as well as the struggling learners. Standardized testing assumes that all students taking the test have had the same educational opportunities and the same scope and sequence, and should therefore score within a specific percentile to be considered ‘passing’ or ‘acceptable.’ The more students who pass, the more money their school gets from the state.
NY is one of the most regulated states in the country as far as homeschooling goes, and yet I’ve never heard what their ranking in amongst homeschoolers as far as results.
Come to think of it, I don’t know that anyone has ever done a study of that kind.
Regardless, the idea that the state needs to regulate homeschooling is ludicrous. The vast majority of homeschoolers are homeschooling for the very reason of giving their children a quality education. There’s simply no need to regulate people who are that motivated without regulation.
The parents will see to it that their children receive all the education they need.
Will there be some failures? Of course, just like in EVERYTHING in life. But the few failures that exist, which pale in comparison to the failure of the public education system, are still not enough to justify the draconian intrusion of the state into people’s private lives.