Across the States
Rodeo Clarifies Homeschool Eligibility Rules
A recent change in National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA) policy gave concern to a Home School Legal Defense Association member family. Worried that their children would no longer be able to participate in the local rodeo, the family contacted HSLDA for help.
The previous homeschool eligibility policy simply required students to submit a report card with at least four passing grades and a validation stamp from their homeschool. The new policy requires homeschoolers to send in test results from any state or national board of education achievement test. The test results must be within the average or higher-than-average range for the student to be eligible.
HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka called NHSRA Executive Director Kent Sturman to discuss with him homeschoolers’ concerns about being allowed to participate in local rodeos. Sturman agreed that, under the new policy, any nationally recognized standardized achievement test (e.g., the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the Stanford Achievement Test, or the California Achievement Test) would also qualify. When Klicka informed the executive director that, according to the national testing curve, the average scores of these tests begin at the 23rd percentile, Sturman confirmed that any test scores in the 23rd percentile or higher would establish eligibility.
— by Christopher J. Klicka
