Standardized Testing for Homeschool Students in Georgia: What the Law Actually Requires

Most Georgia homeschool parents know they need to test their kids eventually. What catches families off guard is how many get the when, which test, and who administers it completely wrong — and only discover the mistake years later when they are applying for the HOPE Scholarship or enrolling a child back into public school.

Under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c), Georgia requires standardized testing for homeschool students on a specific schedule using a specific category of test. Getting either detail wrong means your child's portfolio has a gap that cannot easily be papered over.

This guide covers exactly what Georgia requires, which tests qualify, how to administer them legally, and what to do with the results.

The Three-Year Cycle: When Testing Is Required

Georgia mandates that homeschooled students take a nationally standardized test at least once every three years, beginning at the conclusion of third grade. In practice, this means testing is required in years corresponding to third grade, sixth grade, ninth grade, and twelfth grade — though the law frames it as "every three years beginning at the end of third grade" rather than specifying exact grade levels.

This schedule trips up many families because the state gives significant flexibility in how you structure your academic year. If your child is completing what you consider "third grade work" by May, that is your testing window. The trigger is the grade level, not the calendar year.

The testing requirement operates entirely separately from the annual written progress report, which you must complete every single year regardless of whether a standardized test is due. These are two distinct statutory mandates. A family that tests in third grade and writes a progress report that year has satisfied both. A family that tests in third grade but skips the annual progress report that same year has only satisfied one.

Which Tests Actually Qualify

Here is where the confusion is most common. Georgia law requires a "nationally standardized testing program" — specifically, it must be a norm-referenced test. A norm-referenced test compares your child's performance against a national sample of students at the same grade level. This is fundamentally different from a criterion-referenced test, which measures mastery of specific content standards.

The Georgia Milestones assessments used in public schools are criterion-referenced. They do not qualify for homeschool compliance purposes, even though they are administered statewide to hundreds of thousands of students.

Tests that do qualify include:

Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS): One of the most widely used norm-referenced tests in the homeschool community. It covers reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies — which maps directly onto Georgia's five required subjects. Publishers typically require the administering parent to hold a bachelor's degree.

Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford 10): Frequently called "Stanford testing" in homeschool forums, this is another recognized norm-referenced instrument with strong national norming data. It is available through several homeschool-friendly distributors.

California Achievement Test (CAT): Available in several editions, including online proctored versions that remove the administrator qualification barrier for families who do not have a parent with a bachelor's degree.

Personalized Assessment of Student Success (P.A.S.S.): Specifically designed for homeschoolers and widely accepted in Georgia. It covers all five required subject areas and can be administered at home with parental oversight.

Who Can Administer the Test

The statute specifies that testing must occur "in consultation with an individual trained in the administration and interpretation of norm-referenced tests." This language sounds stricter than it operates in practice, but it does have real teeth.

For tests like the ITBS, publishers require the purchasing parent to hold a bachelor's degree to administer the assessment. If the parent does not hold a degree, they must either use a different instrument, arrange for a certified teacher to oversee administration, or use an online proctoring service.

Online proctoring services have become the simplest solution for many families. Several testing distributors now offer fully remote administration where a trained proctor supervises the test via webcam. This satisfies the "trained administrator" requirement without requiring the parent to have any particular credential.

Tutors and co-op teachers who hold the required background can also serve as administrators. Many Georgia homeschool co-ops organize group testing sessions annually, which reduces cost and removes the logistics of individual administration.

Where to Obtain Accepted Tests

You cannot purchase norm-referenced tests at a retail store or through a standard educational supply vendor. They are distributed through specialized channels.

BJU Press Testing and Evaluation: Offers the Iowa Test and Stanford Achievement Test. Requires documentation of the parent's educational background.

Seton Testing Services: Provides several accepted instruments and offers guidance for families navigating the qualification requirements.

Christian Liberty Press Testing: Another well-known distributor serving the homeschool market.

Brigance Assessments and similar alternatives: For younger children or students with special needs, alternative assessment instruments may be appropriate. Consult with a special education professional if your child has an IEP or has received services through your local district's Child Find program.

What Happens to the Results

Georgia requires that standardized test scores be retained in the parent's home portfolio for at least three years. There is no mechanism or requirement to submit scores to your local school district or to the Georgia Department of Education. The GaDOE explicitly does not collect these records under its current statutory authority.

However, these results are not merely a paperwork formality. They become directly relevant in several real-world situations:

HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships: Students graduating from unaccredited home study programs — the standard independent homeschool classification in Georgia — must demonstrate academic eligibility through standardized test scores rather than a GPA. To receive the HOPE Scholarship upon entering college, an unaccredited homeschool graduate must score at or above the 75th percentile nationally on a single sitting of the SAT or ACT (approximately 1160 SAT or 24 ACT historically). The Zell Miller Scholarship requires at minimum a 1200 SAT or 26 ACT. Years of triennial homeschool testing create a documented track record that, while not directly used for the scholarship calculation, establishes a consistent record of formal assessment.

Re-enrollment into public school: If a Georgia homeschooled student re-enrolls in public school, districts use standardized test scores as one tool to determine appropriate grade placement. Having a current score from an accepted instrument removes ambiguity about where the student should be placed.

CPS compliance inquiries: In the event a family faces a truancy referral or a Division of Family and Children Services inquiry, standardized test scores in the portfolio alongside attendance logs and progress reports constitute the strongest possible evidence of a functioning home study program.

College admissions: Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, and other competitive USG institutions require SAT or ACT scores from homeschool applicants. While these are different tests from the triennial requirement, building a family culture of formal assessment prepares students for high-stakes testing environments.

The Most Common Mistake Georgia Families Make

The single most pervasive error is treating testing as either-or. Parents assume they must choose between writing an annual progress report or administering a standardized test. The law requires both, and conflating them leaves a family non-compliant in the year the test is due.

A second common mistake is using the wrong test. One Georgia parent described on a forum discovering that she had been using a curriculum-embedded assessment rather than an external norm-referenced instrument. From the state's perspective, those years produced no qualifying test record.

A third mistake involves timing. Families in their child's third-grade year sometimes assume "third grade" testing can happen at any point before the child moves to fourth grade work. The statute language points to the "end of third grade" — testing at the beginning of a grade level may not satisfy the intent of the law, and when records are reviewed, gaps in timing can raise questions.

Building a Testing Record That Holds Up

The strongest portfolio approach integrates triennial test results directly into the annual portfolio binder, not as an afterthought but as a planned piece of the record. That means retaining the original score report from the testing distributor, not a photocopy or a screen capture — the original, signed document that confirms the test was administered by a qualified individual.

Alongside the score report, keep a brief note identifying which instrument was used, who administered it, and the date. This takes fifteen minutes to document but eliminates ambiguity if the record is ever reviewed.

For families approaching the high school years, this groundwork matters enormously. Parents of eighth graders often realize too late that years of informal assessment have left a portfolio that looks thin under scrutiny. The earlier you establish the habit of formal, documented triennial testing, the smoother the transition to high school transcript preparation becomes.

Georgia's portfolio and assessment templates at homeschoolstartguide.com/us/georgia/portfolio include a triennial testing checklist that maps out every testing year on a K-12 timeline, along with guidance on selecting a compliant test and retaining results in a format that satisfies the state's three-year retention requirement.

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