How to contact us:

Phone: (970) 346-0099

Address: 1300 9th Street

Greeley, CO 80631

E-mail: coloradoheritage@msn.com

CHESS provides standardized testing for its members and Colorado home school families using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) form A for grades 3 through 8 and the Iowa Test of Educational Development (ITED) form A for grades 9 through 12. Testing will be offered in two locations, Reformation Baptist Church in Greeley and Conifer Community Church in Conifer.

Test Format Information

The Core Battery fulfills CHESS’s testing requirements as well as the state home school law requirements. The core battery covers reading comprehension, language skills (spelling, vocabulary, capitalization, punctuation, usage and expression), and mathematics.

The Complete Battery (used to be the Science and Social Studies portion of the test) is not required. This additional battery tests students in science, social studies, and study skills. Students must be signed up for the Core Battery in order to take this portion of the test.

Scoring–All tests administered during the spring test session will be sent to Riverside Publishing for scoring. CHESS will be ordering the achievement and ability assessments to provide you with the most detailed breakdown of each sub-test. Scores will be mailed to you by the first part of June.

Personal Evaluations

CHESS will be making personal evaluations available at a reduced price in May for those who would like to utilize that option instead of the standardized test. A personal evaluation consists of an evaluator looking at work samples in reading, writing, and mathematics from the beginning and ending of the academic year to assess progress. A few un-timed work-tasks are given in those three areas at the evaluation.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed for downloading applications, schedules, and enrollment forms.

CHESS Members

CHESS requires its members to either test or evaluate their students in grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. Members do not have to utilize the CHESS testing service, which is the ITBS/ITED, but do have to submit copies of test scores if another service is used.

You may test your child with any grade level test that you desire. In other words, if your child is old enough to be in 7th grade but is doing 5th grade work, you may use a 5th grade level test.

A copy of your student’s test results will automatically be filed in your family file and a copy will be mailed to you for your personal records.

Home School Families

The Colorado home school law requires that home school families (families who choose to file a letter of intent with their local school district) test or evaluate their students in grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 and file a copy of the results with the school district they are registered with. See C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(f) for further information.

For non-CHESS members, you will be mailed two copies of your student’s test results and you will be responsible to file the second copy with the school of your choice.

Why Should We Test or Evaluate?

by Teri Ong

1. Testing fills in our blind spots.

            All of us have blind spots when it comes to our strengths and weaknesses and those of our children.  It is a human tendency to play to our strengths and ignore our weaknesses.  Occasionally we will obsess about the weak areas to the detriment of other essentials.

            Testing makes us have a more balanced approach to our academic endeavors for our children so they can have success across the spectrum of skills. The results of our testing will also give us a clearer picture of areas that need more work which we might have been unaware of or ignored for a period of time.

            Another cause of blinds spots is a narrow field of comparison.  The biggest duck in a little pond may not be all that big.  One of our children may be doing well or poorly in comparison with his siblings, but that is only a close-up picture.  Testing allows us to back away and see a bigger picture for comparison purposes.

            Is comparison good?  The Bible tells us that we are not wise if we compares ourselves among ourselves spiritually because our ultimate comparison is with the perfect standard of God's Son.  However, when it comes to academic skills, our children will be compared with others in the workplace for much of their lives.  Testing helps us get them ready for that.

2. Testing verifies achievement through a second witness.

            When we are doing our jobs as home educators, we should have a good idea of where each child is in the development of their skills and knowledge.  Testing not only helps us discover those areas we may have missed, but it also confirms by an outside witness what we already know.

         Facts are established by two or three witnesses. This is a principle from God's Word.  When we have outside confirmation of what we have observed, it gives us confidence in our educational program.

 3. Testing is a useful skill in itself.

            All through life we are required to take tests, fill out forms, and be evaluated by outside parties.  This is true whether a child seeks higher education for professional status or not. I personally observed the extensive computer records that mechanics had to fill out for a fleet maintenance program. Most workers must go through periodic job performance reviews.  Even the self-employed are evaluated regularly by their customers.

            There are test-taking skills that our children learn when they are required to go through a formal evaluation.  They learn to focus on the task of giving a good account of themselves; they learn to work under a certain amount of pressure; and they learn to work efficiently under timed conditions.  They also learn to logically think through unfamiliar examples and apply what they do know. They learn to properly fill out forms and paper work.

            These types of skills are used in the "real world" every day, if only for such perfunctory duties as paying bills and doing taxes.

4.  Testing is the right thing to do.