Articulate your objectives for assessing the progress of your third-grader. Ask yourself if you want to make certain your child is ready to transition from homeschooling to a classroom. Or you may want to verify that she's working at grade level so you can advance her curricula to fourth-grade lesson plans or decide if your objective is knowing whether she's performing on a par with her peers.
Order material from all types of home school assessment providers before determining the best testing instrument for your unique situation (see References). Turn to other homeschooling educators and nonprofits for recommendations on diagnostic tests, as these entities have experience with test providers and most agree that a phone call or e-mail message may be all it takes to help you decide on the perfect diagnostic test to measure your third-grader's progress.
Consider California Achievement Test assessment instruments for the third grade. Choose from the state's complete battery (five hours worth) or short diagnostic test (can be taken in around 20 minutes) covering third-grade mastery of spelling, math, language, science and social studies. Take the advice of companies marketing these types of assessment exams: If your child has completed the third grade, order that grade level. If she has just moved to third-grade skills, opt for second-grade assessment instruments for the most accurate result.
Explore objectives found within Diagnostic Prescriptive Assessments' testing program for another type of analysis designed specifically for third-grade home school evaluations. Opt for this type of criterion-referenced diagnostic method and you'll be sent a third-grade assessment package consisting of a grade-specific diagnostic test, grade placement pre-assessment tool, third-grade objectives list, yearly evaluation criteria plus an individual education plan designed to track your child's progress throughout her elementary school years.
Turn to a CAT-styled diagnostic service if you're in no rush to obtain your child's test results, as scoring can take weeks to be returned. Opt for DPA-type assessments if you have no interest in comparing your child's progress with those of other third-graders and want an immediate score. This type of evaluative exam comes with an answer key so you can score the test right away.