Assessment at end of year

by Mary Ellen
(Grove City, OH)

A friend of mine asked me, a certified teacher, if I would assess her daughter whom she has homeschooled as a first grader this school year. Can you tell me what this entails for me? I believe she wants to avoid the standardized tests and do the work samples instead.

My Response: You should be able to easily assess a first grader. My husband is a teacher and didn't think he could do assessments even though a friend of his has a very active assessment business. He now does several a year and seems to really enjoy them.

Basically, you just need to look over the child's work and determine that they have progressed over the year. You then fill out an "Academic Assessment Report" like this Ohio form. The parent then sends it either to their local superintendent or county superintendent depending on the size of their school district.

Most parents enjoy hearing your recommendations about what they should do to improve their child's learning. They might even ask you to give them suggestions in areas where they might be concerned.

Some assessors charge a fee like $25 to $30 per child or barter something in exchange for doing the assessment. You don't have to charge anything, but it is perfectly acceptable if you do. It should only take you 30-60 minutes to look over samples of the child's work. Any public school teacher that has been around students for any length of time can tell pretty easily if a student is working up to their potential.

Good luck! Let me know how it goes if you have time.

Heidi