North Carolina law requires that all homeschools "have a nationally standardized achievement test administered annually to each student. The test must involve the subject areas of English Grammar, Reading, Spelling, and Mathematics."

Students between the ages of seven and sixteen must be registered. Registration is optional for children younger than seven and older than fifteen, but if students are registered, regardless of age, they must be tested.

The Department of Non-Public Education (DNPE) regulates homeschools in North Carolina, and makes additional recommendations regarding the operation of your school. These recommendations are suggestions, not law. This includes the suggestion that someone other than a family member administer the test to your student.

It is legal for you to do it yourself. You are the teacher and your school environment is familiar to your student. Public school students face these same conditions. To give your student an equal opportunity, you should consider doing your own testing.

A frequent question from teachers is which test to select. There are many good tests from which to choose. While these tests are acceptable and measure similar skills, you will find the CAT/6 TerraNova 2nd Edition furnished by Bayside easier to obtain and administer. It is the most current of the DRC CTB published tests available for homeschool use. Some publishers require that you be a college graduate or specifically trained and certified to administer their tests. This is not a requirement for our tests.

Another question is when to test. Spring is traditional, but you are not limited to that time of year. North Carolina law says annually. And while DNPE used to require that you have your results available for examination by the end of June, they now have an updated interpretation. This information is taken from the DNPE website.

Teachers of students with special needs want a test that is not going to be frustrating. We highly recommend you use the shorter Survey Form. CTB gives options to the test administrator to cover non-standard testing situations. Alternatively, you might want to have your child take a one-on-one test with a certified administrator.

Scoring reports are the final stage in the testing process. Bayside provides reports that are accurate and easy to understand. Each report includes national percentiles, national stanines and grade equivalents for each of the subtests.

Testing can and should be easy and fun. It should give you a better understanding of what you and your student are accomplishing. Your choice to homeschool was a smart one. Now you are prepared to make a wise choice in testing.

And Bayside School Services is the right choice!