End of the Year Testing
According to the Georgia Department of Education Website (https://lor2.gadoe.org/gadoe/file/e89d40ff-e5e7-475a-99a1-e38a6f3afd2e/1/Home%20School%20Overview%20August%202025%20update.pdf), students in home study programs must participate in an appropriate nationally standardized testing program at least every three years beginning at the end of the third grade. This assessment should be used to evaluate the student’s educational progress and must be administered in consultation with a person trained in the administration and interpretation of norm-referenced tests. The resulting scores and records of these assessments must be retained by the parent/guardian.
This can be intimidating for parents so here’s a breakdown of tests that meet the requirements:
According to the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia law states that homeschoolers should use a nationally standardized achievement test, but does not specify any particular test. Your choice will most likely depend upon what is available to you and what meets the needs of your student.
The subject matter and skills covered by the tests is standardized and, for the most part, quite uniform. Content is checked against widely used curriculum. Both textbook publishers and testing companies tend to contain fairly uniform content (they’re standardized!). The curriculum you use should not make a significant difference in the outcome of your child's scores.
Here are a couple examples of some tests that are available:
CAT - California Achievement Test - The test can be taken at home and the results are available in minutes. It can be taken any time and never expires. It allows for completely independent testing. It is available both timed and untimed. The test is available completely online.
The P.A.S.S. (Personalized Achievement Summary System) Test is a standardized test that has been administrated over 350,000 times. Its popularity among homeschooling families is due primarily to two characteristics.
It is a non-timed test. This reduces or eliminates the test anxiety often arising around standardized testing.
Because not all students are at the same level in any particular grade, it incorporates a pretest to determine the most appropriate level test to administer in each of the three subjects (Reading, Math, and Language). When tests are scored, the student’s responses to the specific level tests they took are then used to generate a report, which includes a comparison of the student to others in their same grade, as well as some specific recommendations.
TAP - ITBS/IOWA Assessment - The test is available for ages 5 to 18. It covers language arts, math, science, social science and reading. You can choose which area you would like to test or test all areas.
PASS - The P.A.S.S. (Personalized Achievement Summary System) is a non-timed test. This reduces or eliminates the test anxiety often arising around standardized testing. It incorporates a pretest to determine the most appropriate level test to administer in each of the three subjects (Reading, Math, and Language). The test needs to be mailed back to the testing organization and you can either have the results mailed to you or emailed to you.
Here are some places where you can order the tests. The prices for the same tests vary so it is worth checking out more than one link.
Academic Excellence - https://www.academicexcellence.com/achievement-tests/ Offers the CAT
BJU Press Homeschool - https://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/testing - offers the IOWA Assessment and Stadford 10.
Family Learning Organization - https://www.familylearning.org/testing offers the Stanford 10 online, TerraNova 1st and 2nd edition and the CAT.
Hewitt Learning - https://hewittlearning.org/pass-test/ offers the PASS test.
Seton Testing Services - https://www.setontesting.com/ offers IOWA/ITBS, TerraNova, Stanford 10
Triangle Education Assessments - https://www.triangleeducationassessments.com/ offers the Iowa E (paper and online), the Stanford 10 (paper and online), and TerraNova2.
-Joni Harrison
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