IAHE frequently receives inquiries from homeschool families who have enrolled in the public school for a class and have questions about the attached strings.
We asked our HSLDA attorney, Tj Schmidt, for clarification regarding these questions. He has given us permission to share.
Indiana law would require a student enrolled in a specific course to take the End of Course Assessment (EOC)/ISTEP+ exams (Algebra I and English 10 are two such classes that require a test to be taken, for instance). As far as the younger grades, if a student is enrolled in school, even part-time, they could be “required” to take any state testing being given that day. Indiana law states (remember this applies to public schools unless it states otherwise):
IC 20-32-5-15 Development of testing schedule
Sec. 15. (a) The state superintendent shall develop an ISTEP program testing schedule in which:
(1) each student in grades 3, 6, 8, and 10 must be tested; and
(2) each student in grade 10 or grade 11 must take a graduation examination.
(b) The state board shall adopt rules to establish when a student is considered to be in grade 10 for purposes of initially taking the graduation examination.
20-32-5-17 Nonpublic schools seeking accreditation
Sec. 17. (a) If a nonpublic school seeks accreditation as authorized under IC 20-19-2-8(a)(5), the governing body of the nonpublic school is entitled to acquire at no charge from the department:
(1) the ISTEP program test; and
(2) the scoring reports used by the department.
(b) The nonpublic school seeking accreditation must:
(1) administer the ISTEP program test to its students at the same time that school corporations administer the test; and
(2) make available to the department the results of the ISTEP program testing.
511 IAC 5-2-3 Applicability
Authority: IC 20-19-2-8; IC 20-32-5-22
Affected: IC 20-24; IC 20-26-15; IC 20-31-8; IC 20-32-8
Sec. 3. (a) The following shall participate in the ISTEP program:
(1) A nonpublic school seeking accreditation, including a freeway school unless the school has an approved optional assessment under IC 20-26-15.
(2) A charter school under IC 20-24.
(3) A school operated by the state of Indiana.
(4) A school corporation.
(b) A school that participates in the ISTEP shall administer the following tests and assessments as appropriate to the grade levels in the school:
(1) ISTEP tests in English language arts and mathematics in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
(2) ISTEP tests in science in grades 4 and 6.
(3) ISTEP tests in social studies in grades 5 and 7.
(4) The graduation examination, consisting of the following Core 40 end of course assessments:
(A) Algebra I.
(B) English 10.
(5) The Biology I Core 40 end of course assessment to fulfill the federal high science testing requirement.
(6) Each Core 40 end of course assessment used for accountability purposes under IC 20-31-8.
(c) Core 40 end of course assessment shall be administered to a student when the student completes the corresponding course.
(d) A student with a disability under 511 IAC 7 shall participate in the ISTEP program as required by federal law.
(e) A student:
(1) whose primary language is other than English; and
(2) who is a student with limited English proficiency;
shall participate in the ISTEP program as required by federal law.
(f) The building principal must document the exemption of a student from participation in the ISTEP program in the student’s permanent educational record. For a student under subsection (d), the student’s participation must be included in the student’s IEP as defined under 511 IAC 7. For a student under subsection (e), the student’s participation must be included in the student’s individual learning plan.
As you can see, the law applies to schools, not to students. However, there is no distinguishing between part-time and full-time students and those who are participating part-time are listed in the ADM (average daily membership).
If you have questions about “opt-out” of testing, contact the Indiana Office of Student Assessment. There is no real procedure and school corporations are generally reluctant to suggest this because they have to have to provide alternative instruction to those who opt out. We understand that the state must have 95% of the ADM take the state assessments or federal funding could be in jeopardy.
Below is what the Office of Student Assessment said about part-time students being required to test:
j) Nonpublic Schools and Home-Schooled Students
Students in nonpublic schools that are not accredited, including home-schooled students, may not participate in state-required assessments in their nonpublic school. If the student has dual enrollment in a public school and a nonpublic school that is not accredited, the student is a public school student and must participate in state-required assessments in the public school. To qualify for dual enrollment, the student must receive educational services from the school corporation; that is, the student must be enrolled in at least one course or curriculum program that is part of the public school’s regular instructional day. The student must be included in the school corporation’s Average Daily Membership (ADM) count on a full-time equivalency basis as provided in IC 20-43-4-6. Students participating in activities, but not enrolled, and students participating only in extracurricular activities or an occasional day of testing do not meet the enrollment requirement.
Note: A student who has dual enrollment status is subject to required participation in state-required assessments at the public school unless the student participates in state-required assessments at the nonpublic school.
Additional Note: School corporations are required to offer special education services to students with disabilities who are parentally placed in nonpublic schools, including home schools. (These special education students have Individualized Service Plans (ISPs)). These students may not participate in state- required assessments in their nonpublic school or home school.
If your child attends class on a daily basis at a public school, they are considered dual enrolled and FTE (full-time equivalent). It is a federal mandate for any homeschool student who meets the above criteria to participate in state-required assessments at the public school where they attend.