Ask an Expert: Jim Cox and Pat Puleo
Measuring Up: A Parent's Guide to Testing, Grades, and Assessments

I homeschool my daughters, but I want to be sure that they stay on track with California standards. Should I order the STAR tests every year, to track my daughters’ development? Will the state provide them, or are they strictly for the public school system?

The STAR tests are not available for purchase, nor are they made available for private homeschools (only students who are homeschooled through district or county support programs participate in the testing program). The state tests are under very heavy security; they are not even available at public school sites outside of the official period of testing. In fact, every teacher has to sign a confidentiality affidavit to protect the integrity of the test.

However, the state also has a test called the California Standards Test, or the CST, given at the same time as the SAT-9. This test covers what students are supposed to know and be able to do, in every grade level. If you’d like to review the state standards by content and grade level, you can download them from the state’s Department of Education Web site.

SAT-9 test prep books can also give you an idea of what is tested. They are available in our bookstore, and have proven quite popular. By the way, next year the SAT-9 test will be replaced by a new one, called the California Achivement Test (CAT-6).

Most important is that students master the standards as part of their everyday performance, not just as part of a test.

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