Email of the Day:
Good Afternoon,
I’m in the process of becoming a ‘qualified’ parent to provide Home-Based Instruction for my child. Each year I understand it is the law to have our children tested one of two ways: Standardized testing or Non-test assessment.
RCW28A.200.010 (C) states, “Ensure that a standardized achievement test approved by the state board of education is administered annually to the child by a qualified individual…”.
Who is a ‘qualified’ individual? I downloaded the Washington State’s Laws Regulating Home-Based Instruction from http://www.k12.wa.us/PrivateEd/HomeBasedEd/default.aspx and I found the following exert:
14. Who is a “qualified” individual for purposes of administering the standardized test? Tests reviewed by the Buros Center for Testing: the companies that produce the tests can authorize proctors for their tests. This can include parents of home-based instruction students.
State assessments: the state assessments must be administered by trained staff members of a school district (e.g., teachers, ESAs, EAs, substitute teachers) under the general supervision of a certificated employee. This also includes student teachers and interns who have a contract with the district.
I am being told conflicting information by parties that offer the Test for an additional cost. They state the Test has to be administered by a ‘certified teacher’ but that is not correct. The law states‘qualified’ individuals can include parents of home-based instruction students.
Do you have any insight into this matter that I have overlooked? I’m sure there have been other parents asking this same question.
Answer:
It is the testing companies who qualify individuals to administer their tests. In the case of, for example, the Woodcock Johnson, you not only have to be a psychologist, but you also have to have specialized training to administer that test. Some companies (BJU, for example) require you to have a bachelor’s degree to administer their tests. Others (FLO, for example) require only that you be a homeschooling parent (familylearning.org).
The law does NOT require you to be a certificated teacher to administer the test. It does require a certificated teacher to administer an annual assessment (the alternative to testing):
RCW 28A.200.010(1) (c) Ensure that a standardized achievement test approved by the state board of education is administered annually to the child by a qualified individual or that an annual assessment of the student’s academic progress is written by a certificated person who is currently working in the field of education.
Some states specify certificated teachers. Some states specify a non-related individual. Our state does not, on either count.
Warmly,
–Jen Garrison Stuber, WHO Board Advocacy Chair