Homeschool Annual Assessment: Test, Evaluator, or Narrative

A Virginia family that misses one date in August can spend the next school year on probation without ever failing a test. Under § 22.1-254.1(C), evidence of progress is due to the division superintendent by August 1 following the school year, and a family that sends nothing "may be placed on probation for one year." The same subsection offers three different kinds of evidence, and they are not treated the same way once they land on the superintendent's desk.

That is the pattern across states that ask for an annual assessment. The menu of options is usually short. What varies is everything around it: whether the result has to be filed at all, in which grades, against what cut score, and whether a district official gets to decide that the evidence is not good enough. The option that looks least work in July can be the one that invites a second conversation in September.

Rules below are the 2026–27 school year. Statute text for each state was opened on October 15, 2026: Virginia and Washington on the legislatures' own code sites, Minnesota on the Revisor of Statutes site, Ohio and Oregon through a text proxy of the official code pages, and West Virginia's code site likewise through the proxy. Six states are covered here. Florida, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania are handled in the portfolio guide, which covers who reads a portfolio and who is allowed to sign off on it in those four. Colorado was left out because its statute text could not be loaded from an official source on the read date. This is not legal advice, and no state office reviewed it.

The first question is who sees the result, not which option is easiest

Families usually frame the choice as test versus evaluator, and argue about which is less stressful for the child. The statutes frame it differently. Before comparing the options, find out where your state sends the result, because that decides how much the choice can cost you.

Here is where the six states in this guide land:

The first column is where families tend to start. The third column is where they should start. A test result that goes nowhere but your own filing cabinet carries very little risk, whichever route produced it. A result that goes to a superintendent with discretion over whether it is adequate carries risk on every route, and more on some than others.

Virginia: a score is accepted as is, and a letter has to persuade someone

Virginia's subsection C gives two branches, and the difference between them is a single phrase.

Branch (i) is a number. The parent provides evidence that the child "has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test, or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT test." On the standard nine-band stanine scale, the fourth stanine starts at roughly the 23rd percentile, so this is not a high bar. And the statute says "any" nationally normed test. It does not name an approved list.

Branch (ii) is an evaluation or assessment "that the division superintendent determines to indicate that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress." Two examples are named inside it:

• an evaluation letter from "a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, having knowledge of the child's academic progress"; or
• "a report card or transcript from an institution of higher education, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school."

Read the verb. Under branch (i), a qualifying score is the evidence. Under branch (ii), the evidence is whatever the superintendent determines to show adequate progress. A letter does not satisfy the statute just because the writer holds the right credential; it satisfies it when the superintendent accepts it. That is the trade. The letter route spares the child a test and can describe a year that a score would flatten. But it hands judgment to an office, where the test route hands it to a percentile table.

Three more details from the same section are worth putting on the calendar:

• Probation is one year, and it has its own paperwork. If evidence of progress is not provided, the program "may be placed on probation for one year." To continue during that year the parent files evidence of ability to teach under subsection A and a remediation plan. If the plan is not accepted, or evidence of progress is still missing by August 1 after the probationary year, home instruction ceases.
• There is an appeal clock. Subsection E says a party aggrieved by the superintendent's decision "may appeal his decision within 30 days to an independent hearing officer," chosen from the list the Supreme Court's Executive Secretary keeps for special-education placement appeals. The hearing officer apportions the costs among the parties.
• Young children are exempt. The subsection C requirements "shall not apply to children who are under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year."

Subsection F is less obvious and useful for the test route in particular. School boards must make AP, PSAT/NMSQT and PreACT examinations available to home-instructed students and set a written registration deadline. A PSAT score is one of the equivalents branch (i) accepts, so a teenager can satisfy the requirement with a test sat at the local high school. Ask the division for that registration date in the fall, not in the spring.

Subsection G also limits where your evidence goes. The division superintendent and school board may not disclose information a parent provides to satisfy this section to the Department of Education or anyone outside the division without the parent's written consent.

West Virginia: four routes, and the county only sees four grades

West Virginia § 18-8-1(c)(2)(C) lists four ways to obtain the annual academic assessment. Each one defines its own pass condition.

1. A nationally normed standardized achievement test, "published or normed not more than 10 years from the date of administration," given under the publisher's conditions by a person qualified under the test's published guidelines. Subjects: reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies. The child has made acceptable progress if the mean of the results is within or above the fourth stanine or, if below it, shows improvement over the previous year's results.
2. The testing program currently used in the state's public schools, given at a public school in the county of residence, judged against that program's current guidelines.
3. A portfolio of samples reviewed by a certified teacher, who writes a narrative about progress in the same five areas and notes any areas that "show need for improvement or remediation." If the narrative says progress is in accordance with the child's abilities, that is acceptable progress.
4. An alternative academic assessment of proficiency "mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal guardian and the county superintendent."

The test route has a ten-year age limit, which catches families using an inexpensive older edition. And its "improvement" clause means a child can score below the fourth stanine and still pass if the trend is up. The narrative route measures something else: progress in accordance with the child's abilities, which is a standard written for a child the reviewer has looked at, not a norm table.

Subsections (D) and (E) change the cost of the choice. The parent must keep copies of each year's assessment for three years. But results only go to the county superintendent "at grade levels three, five, eight, and 11, as applicable," by June 30 of the year the assessment is given. In the other years you still owe yourself an assessment and a file, but the county does not receive it.

If an assessment fails to show acceptable progress, the parent starts a remedial program. A second consecutive year without acceptable progress means submitting additional evidence that appropriate instruction is being provided. Subsection (D) also says the county board, on request, will tell parents in writing what services are available to assess special-education eligibility, and that identifying a disability does not stop home schooling.

Oregon and Minnesota: the test is the only option, so the choice is the test

There is no evaluator letter in either statute. The decision a family actually makes is which examination and who gives it.

Oregon, ORS 339.035. Children taught at home "shall be examined at grades 3, 5, 8 and 10." The State Board of Education keeps a list of approved comprehensive examinations; the parent picks one and arranges for it to be given by a "qualified neutral person," a term the Board defines by rule. That person scores the test and reports the results to the parent. The education service district gets them only "upon request of the superintendent of the education service district."

Timing rules decide the first test date for a newly withdrawn child. If the child left a public school, the first examination is due "at least 18 months after the date on which the child was withdrawn." A child who never attended a public or private school must take the first one before the end of grade three.

The cut line is the 15th percentile composite on national norms, and the consequence is a sequence rather than a single penalty. Below the line, the child takes another examination within one year. If that second score declines, there is a third within a year, and the ESD superintendent may let home instruction continue or place it under a licensed teacher the parent selects and pays for. Only after continued declines may the superintendent order the child to school "for a period not to exceed 12 consecutive months." A score equal to or above the prior percentile resets the child to the normal grade schedule.

Subsection (5) is the exception many families need. A child with a disability who has an IEP, or who is educated under a privately developed plan, is evaluated by the recommendations of that program or plan instead. If evaluated by providers the parent chose under a private plan, the parent submits that evaluation report to the ESD in place of the test results.

Minnesota, § 120A.22 subd. 11. Every child ages seven through 16 not enrolled in public school must be assessed each year "using a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement examination." The parent cannot simply pick one alone: the district superintendent and the person in charge of instruction "must agree about the specific examination to be used" and about its administration and location. Under § 120A.24, the October 1 report already names the "annual tests intended to be used," so that agreement is effectively made at filing time.

Results stay home. Section 120A.24 subd. 2 requires the instructor to keep documentation that includes "proof that the tests under section 120A.22, subdivision 11, have been administered," along with class schedules and materials. Scores go to a public school only when the child enrolls there full time.

Minnesota's threshold does not end anything. A total battery score "at or below the 30th percentile or one grade level below" means the parent must obtain an additional evaluation "for the purpose of determining whether the child has learning problems." It is a screening trigger. Children taught through a school accredited by a recognized agency are exempt from the subdivision entirely.

Washington: two routes, and neither one is filed

RCW 28A.200.010(1)(c) offers a real choice. A parent ensures either that "a standardized achievement test approved by the state board of education is administered annually to the child by a qualified individual" or that "an annual assessment of the student's academic progress is written by a certificated person who is currently working in the field of education."

Note the last clause on the second route. A retired teacher with a valid certificate does not obviously fit "currently working in the field of education." Before booking someone, ask whether they are currently working in education, not only whether they hold a certificate. The statute does not define "qualified individual" for the test route in that section; double-check the current list and definitions with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction before you schedule.

Whichever route you take, the result "shall be made a part of the child's permanent records." Under (1)(b) those records are forwarded if the child transfers to another public or private school, and on transfer to a public school the receiving district may require a standardized achievement test to decide grade and course placement. If the result shows the child is not making reasonable progress for their age or stage of development, the parent "shall make a good faith effort to remedy any deficiency." Subsection (2) supplies the stakes: failing to meet these duties is treated as the child failing to attend school without valid justification.

So in Washington the evaluator route is not riskier than the test the way it is in Virginia, because no one rules on the evidence each year. The risk is the opposite one: a family that never writes it down. The record is not checked until the day it is needed, usually a transfer, and a missing year cannot be recreated then.

Ohio: the requirement is gone, and old guides still describe it

Ohio repealed its annual assessment. The current home education section, R.C. 3321.042, took effect October 3, 2023 through House Bill 33. It requires a notice to the district superintendent within five calendar days after starting home education, moving into a new district, or withdrawing from a school, and then by August 30 each year. The notice gives the parent's name and address, the child's name, and an assurance of instruction in the required subjects. The section contains no test, no portfolio review, and no evaluator letter.

Many Ohio checklists online still list the old choice between a test score and a teacher's written narrative. If one tells you to send an assessment with your August notice, check its date. The rule it describes ended in 2023. An assessment can still be worth having for your own records or for a later school enrollment, but it is not a filing.

When a scholarship pays, the funder can require what the homeschool law does not

The homeschool statute is not always the only rule. A family using a state education account can owe an assessment that the compulsory-attendance law does not require, in years the county would otherwise never see.

West Virginia shows the gap clearly. Under its homeschool law the county sees results in four grades. Under the Hope Scholarship, § 18-31-8(a)(4) requires a student in an individualized instructional program to do one of two things every year: take a nationally normed standardized achievement test, with results within or above the fourth stanine or improving, and report the results to the county superintendent; or have a certified teacher review the student's academic work annually and determine whether the student is "making academic progress commensurate with his or her age and ability," with the teacher's determination reported to the county superintendent. Subsection (b)(3) makes that report a condition of continuing from one school year to the next. County superintendents pass the results to the board and the Department of Education "on or before June 15."

The consequence is financial. Under subsection (d), a parent who misses the annual conditions gets notice that the account "will be closed in 45 calendar days"; with no response within 30 calendar days the account closes and "any remaining moneys shall be returned to the state." Returning to the program after that means reapplying. The test itself can be paid from the account: § 18-31-7 lists "Fees for nationally standardized assessments" among qualifying expenses.

Florida's Personalized Education Program follows the same logic with its own test and its own deadline before renewal; the portfolio guide sets it beside Florida's district evaluation. For what else the renewal file has to contain, see ESA renewal paperwork. The practical rule for any account state is that the homeschool statute's grade schedule cannot be used as a reason to skip the scholarship's annual one.

How to pick, once you know where the result goes

With the routing settled, the choice narrows quickly.

If the result goes to an official with discretion (Virginia's branch ii is the clearest case), the test is the lower-risk route for a child who tests at or near grade level, because a score above the cutoff is accepted as is. The letter route makes most sense when you expect a low score on a test that misreads the child, and when the evaluator can say something specific about the year. Choose an evaluator "having knowledge of the child's academic progress," as the statute requires, not one who meets the child for twenty minutes in July.

If the result stays with you (Washington, Minnesota, Oregon outside a request, West Virginia outside grades 3, 5, 8 and 11), the main risk is not failing; it is having nothing on file on the day someone asks. Pick the route you will actually finish, and put the dated result in the same folder as your notice of intent.

If only a test is allowed (Oregon, Minnesota), the work is logistics: an approved or agreed examination, a qualified neutral administrator in Oregon, an agreement with the superintendent in Minnesota, and an edition recent enough to count.

If a child recently left a school mid-year, check whether the first assessment date runs from the withdrawal. Oregon's 18-month rule does. Keep the dated proof of withdrawal from the withdrawal letter with your assessment records, since that date decides when the first test is owed.

Then write two dates on the calendar for 2026–27: the day the result must leave your house, if your state has one (August 1, 2027 in Virginia; June 30, 2027 in West Virginia for the reporting grades), and a date about six weeks earlier to book the test or the evaluator. The statutes give no grace period for a tester who is fully booked in the last week.