What Homeschoolers Need to Know About Academic Talent Searches

Pre-Eligibility. Each program uses a nationally-normed test to determine if a student is in the top 5–10% (based on the specific program criteria) of the student’s grade. Each program lists their approved tests and, in some cases, will accept an administrator’s recommendation or even a letter from a homeschool group coordinator to establish eligibility.

I believe testing is the most valid means of establishing eligibility. I recommend you preview the acceptable tests and choose which one you will use.

I have an affinity to the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, because it is relatively easy to administer and readily available. Homeschool parents can administer the test themselves or have a homeschool organization member proctor it. The Iowa Test is available through BJUP’s Testing and Evaluation service (www.bjupress.com/testing/).

The key is to understand what is required to become eligible. In most cases, students need only to achieve the percentile ranking in one sub-test to become eligible. On the Iowa Test, the required percentile score in only one section—such as Vocabulary—is all that is required to become eligible.

Choose the test you will use and get practice versions of the test for your student to use to prepare.

Eligibility. Simply have the student tested and scored. If the student doesn’t achieve the eligibility score, nothing prohibits a retest.

I would recommend testing early in the school year, and retesting every quarter. Most tests have quarterly norms and the student should be scored against the quarterly norms.

Because most of my experience has been with Duke, we begin this process in the 6th grade for the 7th grade program.

Pre-Qualification. The student will have to take an SAT, ACT, or some other standardized test that is above their grade level.

I suggest you begin testing early, especially for the SAT and ACT. We have 6th graders take one SAT and one ACT per semester (yes, the actual test at a testing site). This way the student gains “Test Maturity” and becomes a veteran test taker.

NOTE: Registering for SAT and ACT is somewhat cumbersome because you have to register by mail. Students under 13 cannot register online. You may have to contact the SAT and ACT to get a mail-in registration form.

After the student has taken 2–4 tests, we begin an SAT/ACT prep program focused on test-taking techniques, using inductive and deductive logic to answer questions. Our system enables students to score higher in math, even though they have not taken Algebra or Geometry, because we use logical methods instead of academic knowledge.

Qualification. When you register for these programs, you will have to select a specific test and a specific test date. For the Duke TIP, we always have the students take the January SAT or the February ACT. These are the last tests offered in the program and we have time to prepare the student. We have the student take one SAT and one ACT in the fall, usually the September ACT, because we can order the Test Information Release (TIR) that contains the actual test and the actual student answers—there is no better training resource than the actual test. We recommend the October SAT for the same reason. We can order the Questions and Answer Service (Q/A) and get the test and the student’s answers. This will help us determine which test to take and we have live training material on hand.

Do this and the student will have a significant advantage over others taking the test—most of whom have never even seen an SAT or ACT until the day they test.