A new Tennessee bill proposal could potentially force homeschool students who don’t perform well on standardized tests back into a school setting.
Current state law requires homeschool students to take standardized tests in fifth, seventh, and ninth grades.
House Bill (HB) 1729, introduced by State Representative William Slater (R-Gallatin), would require homeschool students to take a nationally normed standardized test in language arts and math or a state-approved standardized test at these grade levels. These tests can’t be used as an end-of-course exam for ninth graders, the bill proposal says
HB 1729 would mandate that home school students’ test results be shared with the “parent-teacher, the director of schools, and the state board of education.”
According to HB 1729, if a homeschool student does not perform well on these tests and falls between the 25th and 50th percentile, the student’s parents must consult with the local director of schools.
If a homeschool student scores below the 25th percentile, the bill proposal requires the standardized test to be retaken within a year and for the parent to consult a state-licensed teacher in the subject.
The homeschool student’s parent would need to develop an education plan and report it to their local school district, HB 1729 states.
If a homeschool student scores below the 25th percentile for two consecutive years, then the local director of schools may “require the parent of the student to enroll the student in a public, private, or church-related school,” the proposal notes. This would not apply to students who have been medically diagnosed with a learning disability.
Regarding testing, HB 1729 would give the Classical Learning Test (CLT) the same legal recognition as the SAT and ACT. This means state agencies need to treat the test seriously, thereby preventing school districts from excluding it from their policies.
Students who take the CLT would also be eligible for Tennessee lottery-funded scholarships, the bill proposal says.
The state of Tennessee would be allowed to include CLT test scores when evaluating a school district’s academic performance, HB 1729 states.
Tennessee would be able to create state-funded after-school programs for at-risk students in seventh through ninth grades to prepare for the CLT, the bill proposal notes.
HB 1729 would go into effect immediately if Gov. Bill Lee signs it into law.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
