The Pennsylvania homeschool law was amended in 2014 and no longer requires the supervisor of a home education program to submit a portfolio at the end of the year to the school district.
The new law only requires the supervisor to submit a certification by an evaluator (letter/form) that an “appropriate education is occurring”. The superintendent must accept this certification by a qualified evaluator.
It is the supervisor’s responsibility to choose an evaluator who meets the legal qualifications, which I reviewed in this post.
Below are some additional factors you should consider when choosing an evaluator and what to look for before you agree to have him interview and review your child’s work. The points below are not required by the law and are mostly subjective.
In general, you should choose an evaluator who;
1. Supports homeschooling, in general
I can’t emphasize enough how important it is that the person you choose to evaluate the student’s portfolio is supportive of your right to educate your child at home. If you’re lucky enough to have a close friend or family member who meets the minimum qualifications under the law AND supports your decision to homeschool, that’s great. By all means invite that person to interview (or have a chat with) your child, look over the portfolio and prepare a homeschool certification letter for you to submit to the superintendent of the school district.*
2. Understands the appropriate standard for reviewing a portfolio
You may know a public or non-public school teacher who is legally qualified to conduct an evaluation under the Pennsylvania homeschool law but doesn’t understand their role under the law. The evaluator’s job is to interview the child, review the samples of work and determine whether an “appropriate education has taken place”.
“Appropriate education” is clearly defined in the PA homeschool law as a “program consisting of instruction in the required subjects for the time required in this act and in which the student demonstrates sustained progress in the overall program”. That’s it, no more, no less.
Some school teachers or administrators are under the impression that homeschooled children are subject to state standards and benchmarks for each grade level. As a result, they are inclined to compare your child’s work to their conventionally-schooled counterparts. This is inappropriate and if the evaluator is unwilling to abandon this line of thinking, I would choose someone else.
You can inform and educate the evaluator regarding the appropriate standard of review and if they’re willing to proceed according to its limited scope and having them conduct the evaluation is convenient for you, you can give it a try.
I wouldn’t choose a teacher or administrator in your home school district to review your child’s portfolio unless he or she is clearly supportive of homeschooling and understands the limited standard of review under the PA homeschool law. Some evaluators require evidence that the homeschooled child is involved in activities or has other social opportunities. This is way out of line and completely outside of the role of an evaluator unless a parent specifically requests guidance in this or other areas.
If a district teacher or administrator evaluates a homeschool portfolio and refuses to certify that an appropriate education has occurred because he or she applied the wrong standard, it could trigger a superintendent’s “reasonable belief” that the program is out of compliance and the hassle that comes with that and you would have to find a different evaluator.
3. Understands that an “appropriate education” can be met in a variety of ways
The Pennsylvania homeschool law gives parents (supervisors) wide discretion in designing and directing a child’s education. Some people choose a method that looks like school at home, but most PA homeschoolers don’t.
A good evaluator should understand and fully support a parent’s liberty in choosing curriculum, methods and a schedule that best suits the child and family. There’s no one right way to learn. If you get the impression that your evaluator will be looking for worksheets and certain texts or work-product according to an inappropriate pre-conceived idea of what SHOULD be in the portfolio, find someone else.
For example, some evaluators publicize that they expect an extensive log or a minimum number of books read, evidence of extracurricular activities, lengthy term papers or reports in certain grades and long interviews. I maintain that these types of evaluations are over-reaching, inappropriate, tend to be expensive and are unnecessary.
4. Accepts just samples of work and a simple log
The law clearly states that the portfolio should include “samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials used or developed by the student”.
“Samples” doesn’t mean everything the child produced during the year and “any” doesn’t mean “all”. I typically submit between 10 and 15 samples from different subject areas which satisfies the law.
In addition, the only requirements for the “log” is that it’s made contemporaneously with instruction and designates by title the reading materials used.
Some evaluators require a minimum number of books listed on the log, which is not required by the law. The law also doesn’t require dates or page numbers of books and resources used.
Some PA homeschool “experts” argue that recording dates is the only way to prove that the minimum number of days was met under the statute. I submit that it doesn’t and it isn’t.
First, there’s no way to prove that the dates weren’t manufactured. Let’s be honest, a supervisor could completely fabricate an entire portfolio, including dates or days taught and samples of work.
I don’t encourage or advise fabricating dates, I’m suggesting that a list of dates or lesson plans (also not required) doesn’t “prove” that the time requirement was satisfied. Furthermore, neither dates nor lesson plans are required or necessary under the law. The truth is, most home educated students are engaged in productive, “educational” work for more than 180 days each year.
The samples, log, a brief interview and a supervisor’s sworn statement in the affidavit that “the home education program shall comply with the provisions of section 1327.1 of the Pennsylvania School Code and the notarized affidavit is satisfactory evidence thereof” is legally sufficient and you should find an evaluator who agrees.
5. Doesn’t charge an arm and a leg
The cost for homeschool evaluations range from free to hundreds of dollars for a family.
I’m grateful for qualified evaluators who provide the service for free in my area but I have no problem with an evaluator being compensated for her time, especially if she travels for your convenience.
Because I advocate simple and short interviews or distance evaluations (via phone, Skype, Google Hang Out, or FaceTime) and a simple evaluation letter, I don’t think high fees are warranted.
Some evaluators justify a high fee because they conduct lengthy interviews, make suggestions for improving your home education program and prepare a detailed report, none of which is required under the law. A simple letter stating that “an appropriate education is occurring” meets the requirements of the recently amended homeschool law and MUST be accepted by the superintendent.
It’s completely up to you if you have a good experience with an expensive evaluator and don’t mind spending the money. Some children actually enjoy the process and some homeschooling parents depend on this type of feedback for reassurance. If this type of evaluation adds value to your homeschooling experience, I would encourage you to continue.
Just be aware that a lengthy interview and report isn’t necessary to certify that an “appropriate education” has occurred. Remember, “appropriate education” means that the required subjects were covered for the required time and the student demonstrated sustained progress in the overall program.
6. Should be encouraging not intimidating
Although Pennsylvania homeschool law still has more requirements than other states, the evaluation shouldn’t be a burden. An evaluator should feel privileged to provide this service to your family and should never intimidate or be condescending.
Being informed about the appropriate role of an evaluator in your home education program should help you choose the right person for your family.
You might be interested in downloading “School District Shenanigans” because it’s on sale through Mother’s Day.
Written by BethPhillips
Excellent post! This is great information. I plan on sharing it soon…hope that’s okay with you! 🙂
Carol, thanks and Please Do share! I really want to take the intimidation factor out of the whole filing process. An easy way to share is by using the social media sharing buttons on the side and at the top.
Thank you so much for posting this Elizabeth! My sister in law was kind enough to enlighten me with details on traditional Home Schooling recently as I currently have my three kids enrolled in Connections Academy which has a lot of really great things about it but I guess I did not expect it to require so much of my own time. The new Kindergarten curriculum (for my youngest) which started 2013 is more challenging than it was last year (for my middle child) but I feel like the lessons are not clear as far as what books coincide with the lesson or what is expected on portfolios. I am becoming very overwhelmed lately and questioning whether or not I should continue with this program or do traditional home schooling with them where I can have all three of them learning the same thing at the same time. Their lessons are becoming more involved and complicated and requiring a lot more of my time since they each do not work independently yet. The most aggravating part is that they all seem to be learning something very similar a few days apart from each other so I feel like I am wasting time doing the same thing over and over when I could be doing it with all 3 simultaneously. We have also been sick for almost 2 weeks and I injured my shoulder and neck a few days ago so all of us being in pain, crabby and sleep deprived is just making things harder. In addition to this, we commit an average of 4 hours per day caring for my terminally ill mother and she neither has internet, nor will she allow me to have it installed at her place. So those are 4 hours that the kids are missing schoolwork since the majority of it is done online. They are each also required to submit very time consuming portfolios to their teachers every few days which then sets us back even more for what needs to be submitted online and I feel like that time is taking away from time needed in order for them to master the basics. I’m just a little nervous about having to put everything together on my own since it is laid out so nicely for us now and their teachers are amazing! Thanks for letting me blab.
Linda, cyber charter schools can be surprisingly time-consuming and for your aged children, unnecessarily so. You can design a quality, meaningful, efficient education to meet the needs of your children and family circumstances without much formal curriculum and minimal preparation on your part. You’re absolutely right that you should be able to cover most subjects with all 3 of your children with the exception of math, reading and writing skills…you’d be surprised how much the younger ones benefit and pick up naturally from the older siblings…making it even more efficient.
I emailed you directly and am happy to discuss your options, legally and practically, for your family situation.
One more thing, Linda, I’m so sorry about your mother. Let me add that homeschooling in the traditional sense can continue through a crisis, even if abbreviated. Your children will learn more and relate to more in the world by caring for your mom than they will from ANY worksheet.
This post is great Beth — I don’t know how I missed it? I wouldn’t have bothered you via e-mail with all of my silly questions.
Thanks for your suggestions…I’m seriously considering offering my ‘evaluator’ services to interest-led/unschooling families this spring!
Jessica, I was happy to answer your questions. You probably missed this post because you and I were in contact before I wrote this. If you’re not on the mailing list, you might want to sign up. Although the articles are generally geared toward those who don’t have a teaching certificate, they might give you an idea of some of the issues and concerns of your potential clients. If you decide to offer evaluation services, don’t limit yourself to only “interest led/unschooling families”. Good evaluators who understand their role under the law and support any type of method are in demand across the state. I would love to set up a page on the site to connect people to your service and many others who are willing to provide “e-valuation” services.
Thank you so much for this post! My family is moving to PA in the next few months from AZ. Arizona only requires us to send in an affidavit informing the district that we are homeschooling. We only have to do that once when we start homeschooling. So learning all that I have to do has been a bit overwhelming. Your post was extremely helpful. Thank you again! ~Alicia
Alicia,
You are very welcome. My goal in publishing this website and the ebook about PA homeschool law (in the process of revisions to reflect the recent changes) is to eliminate the overwhelm and anxiety that people experience about the legal filing requirements. True that the PA homeschool law is notoriously more demanding than most but if parents are armed with accurate information the process and procedures can be simple and painless. Let me know if you have any questions. I encourage you to use the forms available on the site because they’re minimalist but legal. Let me be the first to welcome you to PA!
Can any teacher be considered qualified to be an evaluator or does a teacher have to become qualified or register to become an evaluator? Also do they have to reside within the school district you are homeschooling in? We know a teacher who has been teacher for at least 20 years in a private Catholic school here in PA but she is in another school district than we are, our 10 year old son son is in public school, she teaches elementary school. Would she be qualified to evaluate a portfolio just for the mere fact she has been an elementary school teacher or are there special circumstances to become a qualified evaluator?
This post explains the qualifications of an evaluator.
The evaluator does not have to live in the district. There is no “registration” process. The person’s certification plus experience qualifies him or her to legally conduct evaluations in PA.
As long as your friend has the “grading” experience in one of the subjects listed for elementary students, she may conduct evaluations. I’m assuming since your son is in public school now, you are asking this question for the future.
Don’t fall into the trap of reading more into the law than is there. You might want to get a copy of the ebook that I wrote, “Homeschooling in Pennsylvania: How to Comply With the Law in 8 Easy Steps” which identifies common misunderstandings like the one in your questions.