Although Pennsylvania homeschool law no longer requires the supervisor of a home education program to submit a portfolio to the superintendent, a qualified evaluator must still review a portfolio during (or before) an interview with the student in order to certify that “an appropriate education is occurring.”
In addition to standardized test scores in grades 3, 5 and 8, the portfolio shall contain a log and “samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials used or developed by the student…” 24 P.S. 1327.1(e)(1).
While it’s tempting to submit a thick binder containing all of your child’s work for the year to your evaluator, I don’t recommend it and the law does not require it. Think of it this way, you wouldn’t include photos and a detailed journal of a the day you donated clothes if you claimed that deduction on your taxes. In fact, overcompliance by some parents has led to many evaluators expecting or demanding more than the law requires.
1. Format
There is no hard and fast rule about what or how many samples must be submitted. Also, the form in which the portfolio is submitted is not dictated by the law.
The portfolio can be in the form of a simple scrapbook, a three-ring binder, in a manila folder or a few pages in an envelope. Applications like dropbox and Google Docs make it easy to compile a completely digital portfolio to share with an evaluator before an interview or during a face-to-face or distance evalution.
It’s completely up to the supervisor and student. For purposes of this article, however, I think it’s helpful to suggest some simple guidelines and to share what I did, which is minimal.
2. “Samples” doesn’t mean everything
The law does not require samples from all subjects. The language clearly states “samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials used or developed by the student.”
It’s important to keep in mind that the primary purpose of the portfolio is to demonstrate “sustained progress in the overall program” to the evaluator and that an appropriate education has occurred.
3. What to include
One or two pages that your child has completed from the subjects (or some of them) that you chose to cover during the year is more than adequate to complete the evaluation. Remember, all of the subjects identified in the law for each level are not required every year except for instruction in the prevention of fires.
Most homeschooled children will have one page of work which demonstrates multiple subjects. For example, if the child writes a paragraph about something he or she learned from a book about science, it will show handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation, language usage as well as the the science topic covered and maybe the time period when the scientist lived and worked. If the child illustrates the page, it’s an exercise in art.
I typically include a page or test in math from the beginning of the year and one from the end of the year. Although, even one sample page of math can be sufficient to show that the subject has been covered and that progress has been made (for example if the same evaluator reviews the portfolio from one year to the next, knows your child and tracks (formally or informally) his progress).
Other appropriate “samples” can include but are not limited to:
- a certificate of completion from a summer reading program, activity, camp or class;
- a ticket stub from a museum or other attraction;
- a drawing or other art project;
- a photo of a building or historic marker from a place your family visited;
While I encourage you to include samples of your child’s best work, your intention shouldn’t be to impress the evaluator, especially if he or she has expectations beyond the scope of the law. You should never hire an evaluator who expects more than the law requires.
All this being said, you might be wondering what exactly constitutes an acceptable “sample” of work. One year, I included a total of 13 pages of my youngest son’s work for 4th grade. Including:
2 math worksheets (not dated). One sheet was from lesson 1, the other from lesson 25;
1 cursive practice page;
1 completed “synonym” worksheet;
1 page demonstrating my son’s own use of synonyms;
1 page of handwritten sentences about things he heard and saw;
1 science vocabulary crossword;
1 illustrated page about science with 3 sentences about what he learned;
1 drawing of our house;
1 sample of copywork consisting 2 stanzas of “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman;
1 spelling worksheet
1 certificate for participating in the elementary school’s in-house basketball program.
As you can see, I submitted a minimum number of samples but I think even fewer can be acceptable, depending on the content. Even this minimal collection of samples, along with the log and test scores, if applicable for the grade, can demonstrate “sustained progress in the overall program.” Also, even a brief conversation with a child can show that they have studied the subjects even if they aren’t their favorites.
I hope this helps you to decide what samples of work to include in a portfolio at the end of the year.