Repost: Standardized Test or Portfolio Assessment?

A question I receive often is “Should I give my home educated student a standardized test at the end of the year, or complete a narrative portfolio assessment to fulfill the end of the year requirement for homeschooling in Ohio?”   I usually reply it depends on what kind of information you hope to gain.   One way to look at this question is to think “Do you want one picture of one moment in time, or a running movie with many pictures taken over time? “

A standardized test is a “snapshot “of a student at one moment in time.  A standardized test is scored in a consistent manner so you are able to compare your student to a group of students in the same grade who have taken the same test.  You usually receive a percentile ranking which tells you what percentage of the students taking the test your student scored better than.  For instance, if your student was in the 33rd percentile in math then your child scored better than 33 percent of students in the sample group from the publisher who took this test in math.

  

A standardized test is limited in that it is more likely to tell you what your student does not know versus what they do know or have learned this year.  A standardized test also dictates what the publisher feels is important for your student to know.  It does not take into account what your student has learned this past year.

A narrative portfolio assessment is a group of work samples that reflect your student’s growth and progress over the last year.   It consists of many “snapshots” that come together to reflect what your student has accomplished this year.  You, as parent educator, get to showcase what your student has accomplished.

Besides celebrating what your student has accomplished, a portfolio also helps you to plan instruction for the next year.   For instance, you realize you concentrated on learning your math facts, but did not spend as much time learning how to solve word problems.   Next year, you commit to working on more problem solving.  You look at your book list and notice that your student has mainly read adventure stories this past year.  You commit to introducing him/her to biographies, non-fiction, and or some poetry next year to vary his/her reading diet.   I believe this is time well spent.  You are assessing your student’s needs and planning instruction based on those needs.

A narrative portfolio assessment also gives you a chance to present what your child has accomplished to a certified Ohio teacher.  My hope is that when I review your student’s work I bring a different “set of eyes” to your student’s portfolio.   As an assessor, I try to provide encouragement to parents, insight into your student’s growth, and provide feedback to help you plan future instruction for your child.   My goal is to partner with you to celebrate your student’s accomplishments and encourage you on your home education journey.

Please click here to get started.  

A little about my family. . .

Some of you know I come from a big family.  A really big family.  I am the oldest of 19 children. Many siblings were adopted from four different countries, and some have a disability.  Above is a group picture.  You can click on it to make it bigger.

My youngest brother was married in April to a lovely young lady.  It was a beautiful wedding.  Most of my siblings were there with their spouses and children.  My cousins and their kids were there too.

It was a huge party.  My relatives started celebrating together on Thursday and continued through the next week.  They are pretty social.

My youngest two children were in the wedding.  They were very cute.  

Tell me, is that not the cutest picture you have ever seen?

My son did a reading.

They had a great photographer, named Krista Silz.  She took all of these photos.  She has some great photo tips on her blog.  You can find them here.

   Here are a couple other photos from the wedding. 

 My brother dancing. . .

More dancing. . .

My baby and I.  

My sweet husband and our service dog.

How does your family celebrate?

Enjoy the week.