Testing for Proof of Progress at Home
Testing at home is very popular, and with good reason. Parents appreciate the opportunity to test in the comfort of their own home and children often do better in a relaxed, familiar place.
HEAV now offers an opportunity to test online through a reputable company providing a well-known test—the newest available to homeschoolers.
BJU Press Testing & Evaluation has 35 years of test experience and offers the Iowa Assessment with the most recent (2017) norming date, giving you a more accurate understanding of your child’s progress. Plus, you may proctor this test for your students, and you don’t need to have any special credentials.
Testing dates are flexible–you choose the dates that work for you! Testing dates will be coming soon.
Participation Is Simple!
1. Choose your test.
Choose whether you want to use a paper test or online and order at the links below.
___
Testing dates are scheduled between March 28 and July 10.
(See schedule in FAQ.)
Sign up online or call BJU directly to order. Use code 6JG3GKJ3.
2. Get results.
Get your results and submit to the superintendent by August 1st.
Take the Iowa Assessments™ Form E OR the Stanford 10 from the comfort of your own home! Benefits of testing online include:
- Testing results in 10 days; No shipping costs
- Flexible testing dates available in spring and summer 2024
- Fast results with fewer requirements with BJU Press
Why Test?
There are many benefits to testing your homeschooled child!
Achievement
For many families, a nationally normed, standardized test score is the simplest method for providing the required achievement evidence each year.
Efficacy
Testing provides a measure for you to know how effectively your teaching methods work with your child
Refinement
You can use the results to adjust your curriculum and teaching style.
Skills
Your child learns test-taking skills such as following directions, relaxing under pressure, pacing oneself, and more.
Benchmark
Testing provides a benchmark to show how your child compares to other children at his grade level.
IMPORTANT
If you do not wish your children to take the Science and Social Studies tests, which are not required for proof of progress in Virginia:
-Log in as usual on the second testing day.
-Click through these tests without answering any questions.
-Then, simply wait for the next test to open so you can continue testing.
STUDY PARTICIPATION
This study will focus on privately-funded homeschool students. Students who are enrolled in a virtual public school program are not eligible to be included in the research.
You order your test using HEAV ’s specific link as usual. Once the order has been completed, a random number will be generated and assigned to your student’s assessment. You may complete a survey for each child for whom a test was ordered.
Though HEAV and NHERI will have access to the raw data, no one will have access to any student-identifiable information or family information. The data will only be used for the purposes for which we’ve collected it; state-specific and national homeschool research.
Your student’s identity will be secure with BJU Testing. Students’ identifying information will not be attached to their scores when passed to HEAV and NHERI for analysis and interpretation. Demographic information such as age, grade, number of years homeschooled, etc. will be used to interpret the data, but any other identifying information will be removed prior to being provided to the researchers.
The survey must be completed before the student’s test is completed. This is done to remove any bias.
No, you will receive a survey associated with each individual student for which a test was purchased. If you want all your children’s scores to be included, a survey must be completed for each student.
No, surveys received after the test has been completed cannot be accepted.
No, any test scores associated with a late survey will not be included.
No, no personal contact information will be shared with HEAV. All testing information is confidential.
You can certainly back out of the study before submitting the survey. Once the survey has been submitted, it is not possible to trace it.
You may decide not to participate for any number of reasons. There’s no need to notify anyone. Simply don’t fill out the survey.
NHERI is a trusted and long-withstanding leading research group that has served state organizations across the nation, homeschool families, scholars, the media, courts, policymakers, and the general public for over 30 years.
BJU HOMESCHOOL TESTING FAQS
A proctor may be a parent or another adult appointed by the parent. No special requirements or qualifications, such as a teaching certificate or degree, are needed.
The proctor of the test must be actively present during the online testing time.
● Serves as the point of contact between the student and BJU Press test administrator
● Is responsible for insuring that the student is logged into the test at the designated time for each session
● Should actively monitor testing to see that students are actively working on the test and to prevent students from taking unscheduled or prolonged breaks
● Is available at agreed-upon contact time during the entire test-taking session
● Is responsible for contacting BJU Press Test Administrator if there are any technology issues during testing (e.g. Internet/power outage, student unexpectedly logged out of test, etc.)
● The proctor’s name, email, and phone number should be submitted when ordering the test.
Order the test level based on the typical grade level your child would be in for his age. There may be some variance because children can be held back or advanced. See the chart below.
■ Iowa Assessments Online K (Form E, Level 5/6)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 1 (Form E, Level 6 or 7)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 2 (Form E, Level 7 or 8)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 3 (Form E, Level 9)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 4 (Form E, Level 10)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 5 (Form E, Level 11)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 6 (Form E, Level 12)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 7 (Form E, Level 13)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 8 (Form E, Level 14)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 9 (Form E, Level 15)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grade 10 (Form E, Level 16)
■ Iowa Assessments Online Grades 11-12 (Form E, Level 17/18)
Can’t see image, click here for PDF. Test-Ordering-BJU.png (8 downloads )
No. Most standardized tests are graded on the month of the school year when the testing is done.
No. This is a timed test. However, students have plenty of time to complete the test.
The tests used for online testing are Iowa Assessments™ Form E. These are the newest Iowa tests available to the homeschool market and use 2017 norms.
Parents may opt to purchase the Iowa Assessment combined with CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) for a cost of $55.
No. Although science and social studies are part of the complete composite, Virginia students are not required to complete these sections. They will still receive a core composite score without them.
The Iowa Assessments™ Form E is $45 per test. This includes online test results. There is a combination price of $65 for the online Iowa Assessments™ and the Cognitive Abilities Tests™.
Please place your order 14+ days before your scheduled test date.
You may cancel online tests up to 10 business days before the stated test date without penalty.
Parents will receive a Student Profile Narrative and an Individual Performance Profile with the information that meets the Virginia assessment requirements.
- The Cognitive Abilities Tests™ Form 7 (CogAT®️)
- Iowa paper/pencil version, if preferred
If you want to know if your child is working at his potential, the Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) may be a great tool for your family.
Available for HEAV families for grades 3 to 12, this test divides reasoning and learning abilities into three sections that provide separate scores for verbal, quantitative or numerical, and nonverbal abilities.
The CogAT is not an achievement test and does not satisfy the required proof of progress under the homeschool statute. However, it can be extremely beneficial for your student for the following reasons.
Benefits of the CogAT
The CogAT helps you
- Understand student needs
- Find student strengths
- Spot holes in student education
- Predict National Percentile Rank for standardized achievement tests
- Obtain tips on improving future scores
Order online or by calling BJU directly at 800-845-5731.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to use code 6JG3GKJ3 or state you are ordering through HEAV.
By utilizing BJU Press for your testing, homeschool families will contribute to non-identifiable group data. This helps protect your right to homeschool as HEAV receives a small fee from BJU and continues to provide the Virginia legislature with evidence of the academic excellence of home-instructed students.
Click here to view a PDF on How to Find Your Student’s ID Number.
BJU Press launched its upgraded website and transferred your account email on file. For security, your old password was not transferred.
For current and returning customers, it is important that the account email on file is used to login for the first time.
Please follow these steps:
- Current account holders MUST sign up on this link at BJUPress.com/go/returning.
Enter the current account holder email on file. - Confirm your email account by entering the verification code received.
- Create a NEW password.
See the image below for examples of the form you should use and the one you should not use as a current account holder.
