Iowa Test vs Stanford Achievement Test for North Dakota Homeschoolers

When a test year arrives — grades 4, 6, 8, or 10 — most North Dakota homeschool parents face the same question: which test should we use? The state accepts several nationally normed options, and the district test is also on the table. Each has real differences in cost, format, and how scores come back. Getting this choice right before you book a proctor saves a lot of scrambling later.

What North Dakota Law Actually Requires

For Tier 2 and Tier 3 students who do not claim a qualifying exemption, North Dakota Century Code §15.1-23-09 requires standardized achievement testing in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10 — not grade 11, despite what some older guides say. The test must be administered by a North Dakota state-certified teacher. That certified proctor requirement applies regardless of which test you choose.

The law names the following approved options:

• The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), now branded as the Iowa Assessments
• The Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10)
• The California Achievement Test (CAT)
• The standardized achievement test used by your local school district

Any of these satisfies the statute. The district option is available at no cost to the family; a privately sourced nationally normed test is parent-paid.

The District Test (No Cost, but Less Control)

The local district's standardized achievement test is administered through the district at no charge. If cost is the primary concern, this is the path of least resistance.

The practical trade-off is flexibility. You coordinate directly with the district, which means working around their schedule and testing window. Some districts are easy to work with; others less so. You also have no say in the specific content or format — you get what the district uses.

One consideration: a district test is the local option, while a nationally normed test provides a comparison with a national reference group. For families who want that external benchmark — which can matter if you ever transfer to a private school, apply for scholarships, or simply want external benchmarking — a nationally normed test is a better choice.

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Iowa Assessments)

The ITBS is the most widely used option among North Dakota homeschoolers choosing a private test. It has been around since the 1930s and is norm-referenced, meaning your child's scores are compared to a national sample of students at the same grade level.

Format: Multiple choice, grouped into subject areas: reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The test is designed to measure basic academic skills, not curriculum-specific content. This works in homeschoolers' favor — families using diverse or non-traditional curricula tend to find the ITBS less threatening than curriculum-aligned tests.

What it costs: Parent-paid costs vary by provider; add the proctor's fee if you hire a certified teacher independently.

Score reporting: Results arrive as standard scores, grade equivalents, national percentile ranks (NPR), and stanines. The NPR is what ND law cares about. Your 30th and 50th percentile thresholds are read directly from the NPR column.

Where to find a proctor: NDHSA (North Dakota Home School Association) is a referral resource for certified test administrators. Approved online vendors like Seton Testing Services and BJU Press Testing also sell ITBS materials and sometimes arrange proctors.

The Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10)

The Stanford Achievement Test is another nationally normed option that ND accepts. It covers similar subject areas as the ITBS but uses slightly different item types and norming methodology.

Format: Multiple choice across reading, mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies. Some levels include a listening component. The Stanford is considered slightly more reading-heavy than the ITBS at certain grade levels, which is worth knowing if your child is a strong reader but struggles with test-format reading passages.

What it costs: Parent-paid costs vary by provider; a proctor fee may be added. Pearson publishes the Stanford; it is available through homeschool testing vendors.

Score reporting: Reports include scaled scores, grade equivalents, percentile ranks, and stanines — same format as ITBS, same NPR column for ND's legal thresholds.

The Stanford and Iowa tests are genuinely comparable for North Dakota compliance purposes. If you have already used one test in a prior test year, there is a modest argument for consistency — repeating the same test type gives year-over-year score comparisons that mean something. But switching is perfectly legal and sometimes makes sense if a child responds better to one format.

The California Achievement Test (CAT)

The CAT is the third nationally normed option in ND statute. It is less commonly used among ND homeschoolers than the Iowa or Stanford tests, primarily because fewer vendors and proctors are familiar with it. It covers the same core subject areas and reports scores in the same percentile format.

If you have a specific reason to prefer the CAT — a testing vendor you already work with, a co-op that uses it — it satisfies the statute the same way. Otherwise, there is no particular advantage over the Iowa or Stanford tests for most families.

How to Decide

The choice matters most when scores land near a threshold. For tested Tier 2 and Tier 3 students, a below-30th-percentile result triggers the multidisciplinary-assessment process described above. If a monitored child's score is below the 50th percentile, monitoring continues for at least one additional school year beyond the initial two years until the child reaches the 50th percentile. Whatever test you choose, you are reading the same NPR column against those same cutoffs.

Practical Logistics

Book your proctor before the school year's final quarter. Certified teachers who work with homeschool families have limited availability in spring, and this is true whether you are in Fargo, Bismarck, or a rural county west of Dickinson. NDHSA is a referral resource for finding a certified test administrator statewide.

If you arrange a nationally normed test independently, the sequence is: purchase the test from a vendor, confirm your proctor, schedule the testing session, submit materials for scoring, and receive your report. Ask the vendor or proctor when the score report will arrive, and leave time to retain it with your annual records.

Tracking test results year over year — alongside portfolio documentation, subject logs, and attendance records — makes the compliance picture much cleaner. The North Dakota Portfolio & Assessment Templates include a testing prep checklist and score tracking tools that help you organize this well before test day arrives.

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