Determining if they meet North Carolina legal criteria:  The North Carolina home school testing law requires that the test be an achievement test (one measuring subject knowledge); be nationally standardized (reports scores as national percentiles, stanines and/or grade equivalents); and, covers at least the subject areas of English grammar, reading, spelling and math.

Older normed nationally standardized achievement tests -- Are they acceptable?  Yes, if scoring is still available for them.

Public Schools of North Carolina tests:  North Carolina public schools' End of Grade and End of Course tests are not nationally standardized and therefore do not satisfy the annual nationally standardized test requirements for North Carolina home schools.

Recommend one version or vendor over another?  No.

Required for 16/17 year olds?  Yes, as long as the student is currently enrolled in the home school.  Also, see "Registration, School -- Required for 16/17 year olds."

Required for special needs children?  Yes.  The home school law (unlike public school law) does not allow for exemptions from the annual testing requirement.  However, the law does permit, for example, the administering of a 2^nd grade level test to a 13 year old who is functioning academically at the 2^nd grade level.  Note that the science and social studies sections of the test are recommended but are not required by statute.  In addition, North Carolina home school law does not mandate that the student achieve a certain minimum score on the nationally standardized test in order for the parent/guardian to be legally permitted to continue to home school that student during the following (or any future) school year.  Non-reader test editions are permitted and are available.

Send results to DNPE?  Only if you received a letter of invitation to do so from DNPE this past August.  Consult that letter for all the details.  Otherwise, simply keep the student achievement test result and attendance records at your home for at least one year after the date of testing.  If DNPE doesnt ask to see them during that one year period, you will have satisfied the North Carolina law regarding the DNPE inspection of these student records.

Seven year olds -- How soon must they be tested?  Before the child reaches his/her 8^th birthday and then again once within each 12 month period thereafter.  The testing requirement is based on the student's age -- not on his/her grade level.

When to have them administered?  State law requires that they be administered annually.  No exceptions are allowed for any reason.  Once the home school has filed its Notice of Intent with DNPE, the student(s) must be administered the test within the first twelve months of DNPE's initial receipt of your Notice of Intent (date shown on your orange colored Notice of Intent acknowledgment card) and then once during each of the following consecutive twelve month periods.  For more valid comparison purposes, it is recommended that the student(s) be tested each successive year during that same month and during the same week of that month.

Where to obtain them?  Once a home school has been initially registered with DNPE and then again every August thereafter (unless the school has been terminated), it will receive from DNPE (via the US Postal Service) a colored sheet entitled "Additional Home School Information."  An entire section dealing with nationally standardized testing can be found on the lower portion of the front side of that sheet.  It lists the names, addresses and telephone numbers of testing companies.  You may purchase your tests from any of them or from any other supplier you wish.  That same list is also available here on-line by clicking on test companies.