Thinking about not home schooling this year? Understandable, given the year we’ve been through- the emotional, physical, and financial stress that have landed on us. Add to this the constant messaging and daily browbeating being dished out by many political office holders and media personalities in an attempt to influence our behavior. Whatever side of the vax…
Hello Home Schoolers, About a month ago I wrote to you letting you know that the Oregon Department of Education decided to extend the testing deadline to November 1st. Last week the Department clarified that the testing deadline was actually extended to November 15th even though their home school page still says November 1st. This update may…
Hello Home Schoolers, This last Thursday the Oregon Department of Education voted to extend the testing deadline to November 1, 2021. This decision provides some extra time to comply with the testing rule that requires students at grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 to test. However, students testing for OSAA eligibility, must still complete their…
Previously I’ve written about Working Backwards. What did I mean? The idea has been around for a while. It was popularized by time and task management expert, Stephen Covey. What he said was, “Begin with the end in mind.” When he used that phase, he was referring to a process he believed was helpful for reaching a…
Two items to read about below: the standardized testing requirement and the testing deadline. Standardized Testing Requirement Oregon leaders initially appealed to the US Department of Education to waive all standardized testing. While the initial appeal was denied, a compromise was reached. Oregon’s follow up request that the number of areas/tests be reduced due to…
Hello Home School Families, In a previous email I mentioned we’d be posting on-site group testing opportunities once we determined interest and facility availability. They’re going up today, Monday, April 12. Here they are: Gathering rules relative to Covid may vary from location to location as the governor relaxes or tightens meeting standards in each…
Hello Home School Families, Last year, due to Covid, the Oregon Department of Education extended the deadline to complete achievement testing from August 15 to November 1. The extension was a temporary action and does not carry into 2021. Will the Department extend the deadline to complete testing again this year? That is a possibility, but as…
The holidays are long past. Now that you’ve been back to schooling for a month, how’s that textbook or curriculum working- the one you found so frustrating and were ready to throw out around Christmas break? Did you decide to just stick with it, to just make it work somehow? Did the effort required to…
Years ago an investigative reporter presented a story in which some public school teachers had been caught “adjusting” the answers on some of their students’ achievement tests. In this particular school, bonuses were linked to high classroom scores on end-of-the-year achievement tests. The temptation to tweak the weaker students’ answer sheets to increase the overall class average…
Communicating achievement-test results to your children is a delicate task. If done well, it can have a positive impact and be very motivating. For most children who ask the question directly, “How did I do,” a deeper question often lies below the surface. Have you ever had one of these experiences, or one like them? The…