Testing Requirements for School Year 2025-2026 ESTF Students

All students in grades K–12 who have received an ESTF award for the 2025-2026 school year must meet a testing requirement by completing an approved test for both reading and mathematics. Schools and families have testing options and there are alternative options available for K-2nd grade students and students with disabilities. All tests results must be submitted by you or your child’s school before June 30th, 2026.

Approved Tests for ESTF Students

Summative (Annual) Test

  • Iowa Assessment

  • Stanford 10

  • Classical Learning Test (CLT)/CLT-10

  • SC-READY/SC-PASS

Take once a year on or after March 1, 2026

Formative Tests

Test 3 times and submit all 3 tests: fall, winter, and spring

  • NWEA MAP

  • iReady

  • STAR

College Admissions

Grades 9-12 only; test once, any time of the year

  • SAT/PSAT

  • ACT/Pre-ACT

  • CLT

  • Special needs students who are exempt from testing can turn in a portfolio of work or report cards and documentation of their disability (e.g. IEP, 504, physician’s letter).

  • Students in kindergarten through second grade can take any approved test or turn in a portfolio of work or report cards. The portfolio can be examples of homework or projects from the year.

  • If your child attends a public, private, charter, or online school:

    • The school will administer an approved test. 

    • Some schools will also submit test results to SCDE on behalf of ESTF families.

    • If you’re not sure whether your school will submit results on your behalf, where testing will happen, or how to get those scores, contact your school directly.

  • As a parent educating at home, you are responsible for arranging testing. You have a few options:

    • Use ESTF funds: You can use scholarship funds to purchase an approved test from any ESTF-approved assessment provider.

    • Pay out of pocket: You can purchase any of the approved tests. Some tests require multiple sessions during the year; others only require one at the end.

  • Students in grades 3-8th must take a nationally norm-referenced summative assessment (end of year) annually OR they can take formative assessments three times throughout the school year - at the beginning of the school year, at the end of the first semester (halfway through the school year), and at the end of the school year to show their progress.

  • High schoolers (in grades 9th-12th) must take a department-approved, nationally-normed referenced assessment, formative assessment, or assessment that demonstrates the student’s college or career readiness.

Testing Requirements and Options by Student Type

How to Submit Your Test Results or Alternative Documents

Unless you have confirmed your child’s school will submit your child’s test results on your behalf, you will need to submit your child’s scores to SCDE

Once you have your child’s test results (remember, both reading and math), you’ll email them directly to the ESTF Program Administrator at ESTFProgram@ed.sc.gov.

Check back here, as the SCDE may create another method to upload test results and documentation.

What will SCDE do with my child's scores?

After test results are submitted, they are aggregated, made anonymous, and separated out by grade level. This is a General Assembly requirement to make sure participating students are still meeting state standards as a whole, but no individual student scores' are tracked or held to a specific benchmark.