Evaluating Progress

Evaluating progress is essential to staying on target. Many of your ideas about how you will evaluate your children's progress will stem from the methods you will use to teach them. If you have decided on a mostly traditional educational method, you will likely implement tests periodically to help you evaluate what your children have learned. There are other options that are particularly suited to home education. Our focus should always be on our child's needs. Once those needs have been identified and a road map has been laid out to reach a specific goal, evaluation is simplified: "Did we get from Point A to Point B? If not, let's figure out why, make adjustments and try again. If so, let's move on!" However we choose to evaluate, let it be in an atmosphere of love and acceptance.

Fruit. When evaluating our children's progress, we have to keep our goals in mind. Therefore, our children's progress should be evaluated first and foremost by the light of the Word. Judge the progress of your homeschool by its fruit. Where are your children's hearts? Are they happy, adjusted, secure? Are they thriving; growing in wisdom and stature? If so, you are doing a great job!

Personal observation. Homeschooling takes advantage of the tutorial situation. Any good tutor can tell you on a moment's notice how their student is progressing. So it is with homeschool parents. You probably already know how your child will score on a particular test before he even takes it! Take advantage of your observations and put them to work for you.

Narration. Have you ever judged how much someone knows about a subject by what they could tell you about it? Narration is a wonderful way to determine if our children truly have a grasp of a particular topic. We can easily fill in any gaps by simply talking it through.

• Narration Beats Tests
  "For the literary subjects narration is the best way to find out what a child knows. But what about other subjects? How will we live if we don't have multiple-choice tests resulting in statistics and percentages to point to? (Answer: how many children who pass such tests remember any of the material a few weeks later?)" Karen Andreola describes how narration can become our primary evaluation tool.

Portfolio. A portfolio is a wonderful way to document progress. Portfolios can be as complicated as writing your own textbook (principle method) to simply documenting a unit study with pictures, drawings, creations or timelines. For example, keep a sample of your child's handwriting each year. Put it in a notebook. As your child looks back over the years, he will be amazed and encouraged by the progress he has made!

Checklists. Checklists give us an option of covering the basic milestones, but in a way that fits our family's needs. They help us feel confident that we haven't left anything out while applying our own methods and standards.

Standardized tests. Some homeschoolers use standardized tests because they are required to by their state laws. Others use standardized tests as a way to gauge their children's educational progress. You should be aware, however, that standardized tests can only measure how well your children score on subject matter taught in the public schools in comparison to public school children. Standardized tests are also primarily an indication of how much a child has memorized, not an indication of their ability to learn. Finally, a standardized test is not an effective tool for setting goals!

• To Test or Not to Test
  "There are a growing number of parents (and educators) who do not believe testing is a valid measure of learning. Many are not willing to have their children tested at all. There are good reasons for concern. Standardized testing has several inherent weaknesses." David and Laurie Callihan take a look at the problems with standardized testing.

Further Reading

• Beyond Survival: Featured Excerpt
  "This is one question asked constantly by new homeschoolers. Having been schooled in a classroom setting with thirty other students, we initially have no conception of the dynamics of a tutorial educational style. As you continue to teach your children, you become increasingly confident in what your children know, what they struggle with, and what they are not yet ready to learn." This excerpt from Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring introduces several suggestions when it comes to testing our children.
• Testing, Testing, 1-2-3 (Part I)
  Testing, Testing, 1-2-3 (Part II)
  Testing, Testing, 1-2-3 (Part III)
  "Parents are always wanting to know what tests their children need, where to get them, how to give them and when to give them. In the next few columns we will outline the tests recommended at various levels of schooling. We will provide our ideas on how to obtain them, give them and evaluate their results. Three-part series by David and Laurie Callihan.
• The Value of Testing
  "After two years of trying to conduct homeschool like a miniature public school, I dropped virtually all testing. I found that high test scores reflect comparison of one student with peers. Without peers, it was difficult to judge whether the kids were learning adequately or whether I was teaching adequately. High scores cannot measure the student's actual performance vs. his potential ability." Article by Beth Waltman discussing the pros and cons of testing.