Private School Testing FAQs

No. It is required of every conventional K-12 non-public school enrollee in grades 3, 6, 9 and 11. No exceptions for any reason. Conventional K-12 non-public schools are exempted from all Public Schools of North Carolina student testing requirements. See G.S. 115C-554 and 562.

A grade 12 student cannot legally be graduated from a conventional K-12 non-public school in North Carolina until he/she has achieved the school's required minimum competency score on the nationally standardized test administered the previous school year while the student was enrolled in grade 11. See G.S. 115C-550 and 558.
 

Two of the major nationally standardized student test publishers from which conventional non-public school administrators can order are CTB/McGraw-Hill and Pearson Assessments.

These publishers usually require the purchase of at least 35 student test booklets (or similar large quantities) for any given grade level. 

If you would prefer to order less than that number for any given grade level, you may want to consider ordering instead from a home school test distributor which sells quantities as few as one per grade level. 
 

The Non-Public School Testing Service has information about these tests.

Non-Public School code numbers are not provided or assigned by the State of North Carolina.  They must be obtained directly from the test publisher.

Contact either the ACT or the College Board organization to obtain them, depending on which test is chosen. 

Non-public school law does not require that a student attain a certain minimum score on the nationally standardized test administered in a non-public school before he/she is promoted to the next grade level in that school.

However, it does state concerning the grade 11 test that non-public schools "... shall establish a minimum score which must be attained by a student . . . in order to be graduated from high school." 

No. The chief administrator of each conventional non-public school chooses which nationally standardized achievement test is administered.

The nationally standardized test for grades 3 and 6 must measure achievement in the areas of English grammar, reading, spelling and mathematics. For grade 9, the nationally standardized test or other equivalent measurement selected must measure either of the following:

• Achievement in the areas of English grammar, reading, spelling, and mathematics.
• Competencies in the verbal and quantitative areas.

The grade 11 test must measure competencies in the verbal and quantitative areas.  Non-public school law also requires that the test results be kept on file at the school's office for one year after the testing date for annual inspection by a DNPE staff representative.
 

No, North Carolina non-public schools are exempt from all North Carolina public school laws and policies concerning standardized testing.

Non-public school law does not exempt special needs (or any other) students from the grade 3, 6, 9 and 11 nationally standardized test requirement.  Concerning the non-public school standardized testing requirement, G.S. 115C-549, 550, 557 and 558 state that the test is to be administered in those grade levels each year "to all students enrolled or regularly attending."

There are no exceptions given for any reason.
 

They are tests provided by the College Board which produces several college entrance/placement tests.

For more information about each of them, click on AP and on CLEP.