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Be an Advocate While Participating in Homeschool Testing and Research!

Are you considering year-end testing to help evaluate how your students are doing academically? This year, you have the opportunity to test your students and simultaneously advocate for private homeschooling freedoms!

Student testing is being offered to private homeschool families through Bob Jones University Press Testing & Evaluation. The confidential test results will be used in a California-specific research project conducted by NHERI (National Home Education Research Institute). CHEA (Christian Home Educators Association of California) and FPM are coordinating the effort. A research project like this will provide tangible data for people, including legislators, who would question the viability of homeschooling as an acceptable form of education. 

Through this testing, we will be able to collect California-specific data about private homeschoolers’ academic achievements. This kind of research is critically needed as we prepare for the legislative season. We are confident as parents that private home education produces excellent academic results. Participating in this study is a powerful way to be an advocate for private homeschooling!

For another consecutive year, our friends at CHEA of California are partnering with us (FPM), NHERI (National Home Education Research Institute), and BJU Testing & Evaluation to conduct this research study on private homeschoolers’ academic performance.

We had a great response last year and are looking to continue our research. Because of homeschoolers’ participation in 2020-2021, NHERI recently published its California-specific research results. Read it at the button below!

Watch this short video on why testing is so important in the fight to protect homeschool freedoms!

How to Participate in Testing and Research

  1. Order your test(s) through CHEA’s link at www.cheaofca.org/testing
  2. Have your student test.
  3. Once test results post, fill out our survey to be included in homeschool research and advocacy at www.surveymonkey.com
  4. We can include students who used standardized tests other than what BJU Testing & Evaluation offers and include them in our research. Please contact us for more information!

FPM and CHEA have partnered with BJU Press to offer the Iowa Assessments™. The Iowa Assessments achievement test can be used to test your student’s knowledge of facts, basic skills and concepts common to a specific grade tested. It will also assess year-to-year progress in your students’ learning. The Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) measures your student’s logical thinking ability in correlation with the achievement test. Using the CogAT and the Iowa Assessments together can help boost future test scores and identify students’ needs.

Testing dates are available through the end of July 2022. Select your test time soon! We need enough students to participate in order to gather sufficient data for this important study.

  • Testing supported on Mac, Windows, iPad, and Chromebook
  • No Shipping costs or travel fees (testing done at home)
  • Test administrator provided
  • Results in 5-7 days
  • Confidential (all student-identifying information kept secure)

Having current research is necessary as we, FPM, continue to work to protect private home education freedom in the California State Legislature. The research will be helpful when discussing homeschooling’s effectiveness with legislators and answering their questions. The legislature functions on data – this is a way of speaking their language. We also plan to include this research in our Legislator Packet which serves as a resource tool and introduction to the idea of private homeschooling for legislators.

This study will focus on privately-funded homeschool students. Students who are under a single-family PSA or enrolled in a PSP may participate and have their data included in the research.

BJU Press has been working with homeschool families for over 30 years. They have proven themselves to be an experienced and trusted partner when it comes to standardized testing in the homeschool community. BJU Press will even help you understand your child’s results and how you can use the scores to help your child improve.

Important! To be included in the research, you must also fill out a Research Agreement & Survey after you receive the test results. Access the survey with this link: www.surveymonkey.com

This project is absolutely confidential. There will be no information given to NHERI, CHEA, or FPM that would specifically identify your children.

There are many benefits to using BJU Press for year-end testing. Individual families or groups can participate. For individual families, testing can be completed online, meaning no shipping costs, no searching for a test administrator, and no travel or daycare costs. Standard paper tests are also available through the portal on CHEA’s website. CHEA’s website (cheaofca.org/testing) has the link for the Parent Portal and the testing schedule, as well as a section dedicated to frequently asked questions. You must use the Parent Portal through CHEA’s website to participate in this research.

Please consider using BJU Testing & Evaluation for your year-end testing so your family may take part in this ground-breaking study!