Attorney General: Options limited on tracking tests of home schoolers

Last updated Friday, December 8, 2006 7:39 PM CST in News

By The Associated Press

    LITTLE ROCK -- The state attorney general's office issued an opinion Friday that says school authorities have limited options for tracking the testing of home-schooled students.

    Education Commissioner Ken James presented a set of questions to the AG's office, seeking guidance on how school districts can get results of standardized tests taken by children who are educated at home.

    A spokeswoman for James said he would not comment Friday. James, who was out of state at a conference, has been working to improve how the progress of home-schooled students is tracked.

    Three weeks ago, James told the state Education Board that the law does not allow much state oversight. Friday's attorney general's opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Jack Druff, supports James' interpretation. The opinion notes that regulations allow the release of test scores only to the parents of home-schooled students.

    Local education cooperatives oversee testing. James had asked whether school districts could get records from the cooperatives that indicate whether students had taken required tests.

    The opinion said that, while students who do not get tested are considered truant, "the statute is silent regarding which agency will determine compliance or how this determination will be made."

    School districts customarily keep attendance records but no provision exists for the education cooperatives to share testing information with the districts.

    "The code is silent regarding what the cooperatives should do with information regarding which students took a test in order to allow enforcement of the truancy laws," the opinion said. "In my opinion, such information is not disclosable to another agency ... ."

    Parents must notify their local public school district when they choose to home school. The parents are required to follow state testing requirements for their children. But home-schooled students don't have to take the Arkansas Benchmark and end of course tests, which are required for students in the public schools.

    Last school year, about 7,000 home-schooled students were in the third through ninth grades. About 70 percent of those students took the required Iowa Test of Basic Skills last spring.

    James said earlier that local superintendents were responsible for dealing with parents whose students don't take the test. But he said some superintendents don't have the resources to pursue the matter, which would require getting the local prosecutor involved for a truancy declaration. If a child is found truant, parents can be fined.

    Reader Comments (6 comment(s))


    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.

    Focus on the real problem wrote on Dec 8, 2006 9:54 PM:

    " Ken James, take care of public schools and leave the home schoolers alone. Home schooled children are the least of your worries. We are home schooling our son because we want to give our son an excellent education. We're doing this because the public schools have failed him. "

    Bette K. wrote on Dec 8, 2006 11:19 PM:

    " Homeschooling parents tend to give their children excellent educations. Parents who do not care tend to send their children to public school. It is the easiest thing to do. Maybe the thing to do would be question the motives of public schooled children. Hey, maybe you could use up some energy looking at their kids test scores. "

    On the Other Hand... wrote on Dec 9, 2006 12:38 AM:

    " When families keep children out of public school under the guise of "home schooling" with no oversight, the tragedy can become an uneducated child who only knows how to babysit younger family members. Having known of two Arkansas families who have done this with no lesson plans or testing, I applaud efforts to AT LEAST track test results, and make particular note of students who are NEVER TESTED!!! That would seem a very small price to pay on the part of ALL home school families to ensure at least the adequate - if not superior - education we seem to expect from those who choose that option. Those dedicated home school parents who follow the rules and truly center their efforts on their children are a tremendous asset to our society and should be held in the highest esteem. "

    sprittibee wrote on Dec 10, 2006 4:57 PM:

    " I wrote a lengthy article about this very same 2006 testing experience in AR on my blog. It also includes the homeschool response to a newspaper mud-slinging attempt by "those in power" and the media in general. I thought it might interest those who are interested in this post and AR homeschooling in general: "

    sprittibee wrote on Dec 10, 2006 4:58 PM:

    " Sorry about the repeat response, but I tried to add a link and it was blocked: I wrote a lengthy article about this very same 2006 testing experience in AR on my blog. It also includes the homeschool response to a newspaper mud-slinging attempt by "those in power" and the media in general. I thought it might interest those who are interested in this post and AR homeschooling in general: http://sbees.blogspot.com/2006/11/arkansas-comparing-homeschool-and.html "

    at home mom wrote on Dec 27, 2006 11:48 PM:

    " The problem with his statistics are that he fails to realize that some parents in Arkansas can *legally* choose alternative testing which is approved by the Education Department, and those results are never seen nor counted by the Arkansas Department of Education. So those students would not show up in the results. Also, last year, the State Department of Education failed to notify parents where to test at, where and when to bring their child, and failed to mail the tests to the testing sites, therefore, many children did not take the test. Private schooled children in Arkansas are not required to submit to these tests. Why should homeschooled children be any different? Yes a few so called homeschoolers do not encourage their children to learn or teach them in any way. But the majority of parents do a wonderful job of educating their children, in fact it has been statistically proven that *regardless* of the parent's education background, the majority of homeschools far exceed public schools. "


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