I was reading an article, actually a response from HSLDA to a columnist who is concerned about home schooling and its lack of oversight in his state. As you probably know, some states are heavily regulated while others are not. What caught my eye though wasn’t HSLDA’s response or the article itself. It was the comments left on the article below. It seems that people are really bothered by the lack of perceived assessment in the home schooling community.
Why Teachers Assess
Let’s say for a minute, that you are a classroom teacher. You get a brand new batch of kids in September and you are facing state tests in May. It is your job to find out how well those kids read, what they know, and more importantly what they don’t know and go from there. Not only that, but you have to keep track of that information for 30 kids. Don’t forget that periodically, you have to let the parents know where the child is at, especially if the child is doing poorly. There are special services to coordinate for those who need it and you must hand over something concrete. In other words, assessments are designed for a teacher to easily keep track of all of her students’ needs and to be able to effectively communicate those students’ needs to others who are also helping to educate the child (and that includes the parents).
Why Homeschooling Is Different
I assess my kids, although I’ve mentioned before I’m not a fan of tests or grades for young kids. But if you ask me where they’re at in any subject, I know. I don’t get a new crop of kids so if there’s some area where we struggle–we’re in it for the long haul. I use my kids’ tests in math as a spring board of what to do next–what problems to hone in on and which ones we can skip and I never give tests in other subjects. I don’t have to. There is no one to coordinate with and I know where they’re at and where we need to go. I’d rather not waste my time and theirs. I want to get on to actual learning.
I realize that people are uncomfortable with this. It makes educators squirmy to think of 5 children sitting in the Bronx with no grades in science, reading, and history. What will they do when they’re formally assessed? What might happen when they have to fill in the bubbles on a test?
My only reply to that is that filling out bubbles on a test. . .well, it’s not rocket science.