New Start Services

Academic testing outside of the regular classroom can provide confirmation of what the student is or is not learning. Some students perform better in one-on-one testing than in group testing. If parents are not aware of weaknesses in their child's academic aptitudes, they cannot provide the remediation in a timely manner.

Parents may also choose to have outside testing prior to IEP meetings or 504 planning meetings to help document weaknesses that may not be adequately identified by past school tests.

The State of Georgia requires that homeschoolers must take a national standardized achievement test every three years beginning at the end of the third grade. "Test scores are not required to be submitted to public school authorities." Ga. Code Ann. § 20-2-690(c)(7). However, in public school systems students are tested a minimum of twice a year -- at the beginning of the year and at the end of the school year. This provides accountability for determining what a student learns during that one school year.

Parents homeschooling need to have at least the same type of information to be able to identify areas their child needs to work on in a timely manner.