North Dakota Home School Association

WHO PAYS FOR THE STANDARDIZED ACHEIVEMENT TEST?

NDCC 15.1-23-10. Home education - Standardized achievement test - Cost.
( Ref. http://www.state.nd.us/lr/cencode/t151c23.pdf)

1. If a child receiving home education takes the standardized achievement test used by the school district in which the child resides, the school district is responsible for the cost of the test and for the cost of administering the test. The school district shall ensure that the test is administered by an individual who is employed by the district and who is licensed to teach by the education standards and practices board or approved to teach by the education standards and practices board.

2. a. If the child takes a nationally normed standardized achievement test not used by the school district in which the child resides, the child's parent is responsible for the cost of the test. b. The cost of administering a test under this subsection is the responsibility of the child's parent if the test is administered by an individual who is selected by the parent. An individual selected by the child's parent to administer a test under this subsection must be licensed to teach by the education standards and practices board or approved to teach by the education standards and practices board.
c. The cost of administering a test under this subsection is the responsibility of the school district if, at the request of the child's parent, the school district administers the test. The school district shall ensure that the test is administered by an individual who is employed by the district and who is licensed to teach by the education standards and practices board or approved to teach by the education standards and practices board.

NDHSA NOTES

Gail Biby, when Executive Secretary for the ND Home School Association, emailed Dee Black, Attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association on a similar question in October of 2001, specifically on who pays for the test when the public schools are not testing in grades 6 and 10. The response was:

"Regarding the test question, the statute gives parents two choices: to select one used by the school district or to select a nationally-normed standardized achievement test not used by the school district. If the parent chooses a test used by the school district, then the school district must pay for the cost of the test. The statute presumes that the school district uses tests in grades four, six, eight, and ten, the years for which testing is required in home education programs. Notable is the fact that the statute does not say that a parent may choose a test used by the school district if the school district uses a test at those grade levels. The school district cannot eliminate one of the statutory options for parents by taking the position that it does not use tests at those grade levels. It is clear from a reading of the statutes for testing that the North Dakota Legislative Assembly intended for parents to have two options for test selection, one of which permitted the parent to obtain the test at no cost. Local districts may not thwart this legislative intent by refusing to provide parents with a test at the designated grade levels."

An update from Attorney Black ( October 26, 2005 ):

“I don't think it necessarily follows that the school district should pay for the test selected by the parent if the school district doesn't use a test that year. I would say that the school district has waived any right to complain that the homeschool student was not tested that year if the school district fails to provide a test requested by the parent under the statute. The statute says, "While in grades four, six, eight, and ten, each child receiving home education shall take a standardized achievement test used by the school district in which the child resides or, if requested by the parent, shall take a nationally normed standardized achievement test." If the parent doesn't request another test, the school district is on the hook to provide a test used by the school district. If the school district refuses to provide a test, it can't complain that the student was not tested. The school district can't force the parent to choose another test. It's the parent's right to choose. But I would say if the parent chooses another test, then the parent must pay for the test according to the language of the statute.”

SUMMARY

To summarize, our interpretation of the “NDCC 15.1-23-10. Home education - Standardized achievement test – Cost” is that the schools should pay for both the standardized achievement test and test proctor for home schooling families who choose that option or not complain when the students in their district are not tested.

DPI Communications Note:

Ken Knight is the NDHSA DPI liaison and visited with the ND DPI in early 2006.

"I visited the DPI offices and was granted an audience with Anita Decker, the School Approval and Accreditation Director... I asked her for clarification of the achievement tests for homeschoolers situation. She explained that the problem is a legislative one. The code requires a level of 30th percentile on a nationally normed test as a minimum for continuing to homeschool. However the code also allows the local school districts to use and pay for the state assessment test which is not nationally normed. DPI's stance (and their response to all such situations) is that they will do nothing to solve the problem nor offer any assistance until they are directed by the State's Attorney in response to a court directive (we litigate), or the law is amended to specify their responsibility (we legislate). She said that the local school districts may pay for nationally normed tests for homeschoolers if they wish to but their office is not recommending that they do so."

Note from Dee Black, HSLDA Attorney, 17 March 2006

"... have you seen the article in the Jan/Feb Home School Court Report stating our position on the testing in ND? It's also on our website. Basically what I said was that if the school districts refuse to provide the tests, then they can't complain if the homeschoolers don't test. However, since the state tests may not be nationally-normed tests, it seems to me that most parents wouldn't want their children to take these tests anyway. They would just prefer to purchase the nationally-normed tests themselves, and then they can still require the school district to provide an administrator. Most states requiring testing of homeschool students also require the parents to pay for the tests.

To me, this testing problem is more of a problem for the state than for homeschoolers in ND. If the state wants to make sure homeschoolers are tested, they need to comply with the law and provide tests if requested by the parents. Testing is not something homeschoolers should be seeking but rather avoiding if possible. If the DPI is saying they won't help homeschoolers get tests that are requested under the law, then I say this is just fine. We'll defend any family who gets in trouble over this."