News - theworldlink.com - Oregon House votes to end home-schooler tests

Different States have different rules for home schoolers. (See the Home School Legal Defense Association site for a complete one-stop quick legal reference and resource library.) Oregon used to require all home-schooled students to take State-approved tests at Grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 to continue home schooling. Not anymmore--unless they want to participate in any interscholastic activities, like playing in varsity or Jay-Vee athletic leagues. Yes, some public school districts do recruit home-schoolers into their JV and varsity teams. Every student on that team has to show minimum academic achievement, and home-schooolers will be, and should be, no exception. So in Oregon they'll take a nationally recognized achievement test to qualify for such teams.

My guess is that the Oregon legislature figured out that the home-schoolers were passing those tests anyway, and this was a good way to save money. One representative, who had been a teacher and superintendent before becoming a legislator, said that home-school students typically outperform public-school students on those tests.

Yet more evidence that home schooling is serious business--and when done right, can bring even better results than conventional schooling.