[NOTE: Updated as of August 2024. No substantial changes; just removed outdated info.]
Do I have to submit a standardized test for my PEP student annually?
Yes. (The first needed to be submitted at the end of the 2023-2024 school year for parents who used PEP for their students 2023-2024 year. Students using PEP for 2024-2025 will submit their test results at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. And so on. )
What tests can I use? The statute states that it must be a "nationally norm-referenced" test. A list of Florida Department of Education's Norm-Referenced Assessments can be Found here.
How are the tests administered? Do they have to be taken at a school? Can I have my usual homeschool evaluator administer them? What about online standardized tests (like offered through BJU, etc.)? How will we submit the scores?
UPDATE as of August 16, 2023: Brenda clarified today that (1) they plan to allow Choice Navigators and/or qualified tutors to administer the tests, and (2) they are leaning toward allowing at-home tests, as long as it is proctored, but the official decision on that (and how it would work/what "proctored" would include) has not yet been released. Whether parents would be allowed to administer a test from home has not yet been decided.
UPDATE as of August 22, 2023: On a call today, Step Up confirmed that they will allow tests to be administered according to the methodology that particular testing company allows for the administration of the test. This means that if a test manufacturer allows for parents to proctor that particular exam, that will be allowed for PEP as well. They have even added wording to the Frequently Asked Questions linked at the bottom of the PEP info page on the Step Up site to indicate this. (But the DOE has not yet added such wording to the official Norm-Referenced Assessments page.)
If you have an Evaluator you'd like to use for administering your test at the end of the school year, we recommend ensuring that Evaluator meets all the Choice Navigator/Tutor requirements. They can also apply to become approved Choice Navigators/approved Tutors on the Providers page on Step Up here. (As of the time of this posting, there is not yet a link there specifically for part-time Tutors or for Choice Navigators, but we are told there will be. In the meantime, you can fill out the Provider Interest form on that page.)
NOTE: We did a special Livestream on Wednesday August 16, 2023 to go over some of the newest changes. You can watch that replay on our Facebook page. However, please also check back for future Livestreams, as we are releasing new information/updates as we get them!
What if there's a specific test I want to use that isn't on the list?
You are required to use a test from the official DOE list (linked above). However, Step Up has suggested that if there is a particular test a parent wants to use which is not on the list, that parent can contact the DOE to request that test to be added. There is a process for doing so, and they may not approve every requested test, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
What is done with the scores from those tests? Are they tracking my student's progress year to year?
No, they are not tracking individual students' progress.
The test scores are submitted to the SFOs, which tells them you want to renew or are eligible to renew. The SFOs then submit those scores to a certain university--right now it's FSU--and that university puts all those scores into some kind of system that generates a composite score that shows the overall scores and results for the program. They do not track the individual student's scores or progress--the composite score is for tracking the program as a whole.
These composite scores will not be made public until the end of the 2027-2028 school year, at which point, again, they will be used to track the success of the program, not individual students. Your student's score information will never be known publicly. The state universities may not even get student's names.
Has anyone been successful in being reimbursed for SAT/ACT registration fees via PEP? If so, what documentation did you submit? My ACT request was denied for "lack of documentation" despite the registration confirmation with proof of payment being submitted. We haven't found an actual receipt for the SAT, just the admission ticket.