While we are not required to test our students, we as individual families like to test our children near the end of the school year to check on our progress, and to give our students the opportunity to "prove their metal" in a standardized testing environment. It is a nice way to see how our students measure compared to their peers. It is also beneficial to give them practice in test taking skills. Additionally it is a proof of progress that we can show to the school officials at our next duty station, if needed.
We can test using either the IOWA or the Stanford, but usually use the Stanford for two reasons. First, many of us used it in previous years and want to compare it to those results. Secondly, we prefer the Stanford because it is not timed.
In January we will discuss spring testing and as a group decide which process we will use and preferred dates. We usually finish within three days for the elementary through 8th grades, and only need two day for the high school students.