Homeschool testing requirements by state.
Search this question and you’ll find test vendors selling their own exams and listicles that can’t agree — “nine states,” “twenty-four states,” “about half.” They’re counting different things. This table defines the term, cites every statute, and separates the states where a standardized test is unavoidable from the many more that take a portfolio or evaluation instead.
Verified against state statutes and agency guidance, June 2026. General information, not legal advice.
| State | Requirement | Grades | Who administers | Score floor / consequence | Results | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No testing | None required | — | No testing (church-school or tutor) | — | — |
| Alaska | No testing | None required | — | Fully exempt — no testing | — | — |
| Arizona | No testing | None required | — | Statute bars requiring testing of homeschooled children | — | — |
| Arkansas | No testing | None required | — | Testing repealed by Act 832 of 2015 | — | — |
| California | No testing | None required | — | No testing — Private School Affidavit | — | — |
| Colorado | Assessment (non-test option) | Grades 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 | Parent-selected test, or a “qualified person” evaluation (licensed teacher, independent/parochial-school teacher, licensed psychologist, or education-graduate-degree holder) | ≤13th percentile composite → placement in a public/independent/parochial school until the next testing period — after a retest right | Filed | C.R.S. §22-33-104.5(3)(f),(5) |
| Connecticut | No testing | None required | — | No testing — the C-14 review guidance is non-binding | — | — |
| Delaware | No testing | None required | — | No testing — enrollment/attendance reports only | — | — |
| Florida | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually, every grade | FL-certified teacher (test or portfolio-evaluation option), district site (state assessment), or licensed psychologist | No numeric floor; progress not “commensurate with ability” → one-year probation + remediation | Filed | Fla. Stat. §1002.41(1)(f) |
| Georgia | Test required | At least every 3 years from the end of grade 3 | Nationally standardized test, administered “in consultation with a person trained” in norm-referenced testing | No score floor; no statutory consequence | Kept | O.C.G.A. §20-2-690(c) |
| Hawaii | Test required | Annual report every year; test score required at grades 3, 5, 8, 10 | Statewide test at the local public school, or private testing at parent expense | Report shows grade-level score, one-grade-per-year progress, or a written evaluation; inadequate two consecutive semesters → intervention | Filed | HAR §8-12-18 |
| Idaho | No testing | None required | — | No testing in “otherwise comparably instructed” law | — | — |
| Illinois | No testing | None required | — | No testing (HB 2827 not enacted as of June 2026) | — | — |
| Indiana | No testing | None required | — | Attendance records only — no testing | — | — |
| Iowa | No testing | None required | — | CPI evaluation is opt-in only; IPI has none | — | — |
| Kansas | No testing | None required | — | No statutory testing duty | — | — |
| Kentucky | No testing | None required | — | No testing — private-school regime | — | — |
| Louisiana | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually at renewal (home-study path) | Reviewed by BESE/LDOE on the renewal application | “Satisfactory evidence” of quality equal to public schools; if short, DOE requests more before any adverse action | Filed | La. R.S. 17:236.1 |
| Maine | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually, every year | Five options: standardized test, locally-developed test, Maine-certified-teacher review, support-group portfolio presentation, or a superintendent advisory board | No numeric floor — “review and acceptance” standard | Filed | 20-A M.R.S. §5001-A(3)(A)(4) |
| Maryland | Assessment (non-test option) | Portfolio review up to 3×/year (NO standardized testing — COMAR .02 is titled “Voluntary Participation”) | Local school-system reviewer, or a supervising umbrella (then the county reviews nothing) | Deficiency → 30 days from written notice to show correction | Kept | COMAR 13A.10.01.01–.05 |
| Massachusetts | Assessment (non-test option) | Per the approved education plan — town by town | Per plan: periodic testing OR “periodic progress reports or dated work samples,” method mutually agreed | No statutory floor; the lever is the district’s plan-approval power | Filed | G.L. c.76 §1 (Charles, 399 Mass. 324) |
| Michigan | No testing | None required | — | No testing under the (3)(f) exemption | — | — |
| Minnesota | Test required | Annually, every year | Nationally norm-referenced test — exam, administration, and location agreed with the resident-district superintendent | ≤30th percentile or one grade below age → parent obtains a learning-problems evaluation (no forced enrollment) | Kept | Minn. Stat. §120A.22 subd. 11 |
| Mississippi | No testing | None required | — | No testing — the certificate form is capped by statute | — | — |
| Missouri | No testing | None required | — | Keep an evaluation record in the defense file — no external test | — | — |
| Montana | No testing | None required | — | No testing (post-HB 778) | — | — |
| Nebraska | No testing | None required | — | No testing (LB 1027 removed the last filings) | — | — |
| Nevada | No testing | None required | — | No testing — one-time notice only | — | — |
| New Hampshire | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually, every year | Parent-chosen certified or nonpublic-school teacher (portfolio review + discussion); or a test administered per the publisher’s qualifications | NO floor — HB 1663 (June 2022) removed the old 40th-percentile standard; results “shall not be used as a basis for terminating a home education program” | Kept | RSA 193-A:6; HB 1663 (2022) |
| New Jersey | No testing | None required | — | No testing — “equivalent instruction elsewhere” | — | — |
| New Mexico | No testing | None required | — | No testing — immunization records only | — | — |
| New York | Test required | Annual assessment; grades 4–8 test at least alternate years, 9–12 every year | Test at a public school by its staff, or at home/another site by a NYS-certified teacher or qualified person with superintendent consent; approved-list test | Composite above the 33rd percentile OR one year of growth; inadequate → probation + remediation | Filed | 8 NYCRR §100.10(h) |
| North Carolina | Test required | Annually — once each 12-month period, every student | The parent (chief administrator) may administer any nationally standardized test covering English grammar, reading, spelling, and math | No floor; no statutory consequence | Kept | N.C.G.S. §115C-564 |
| North Dakota | Test required | Grades 4, 6, 8, 10 | A (ND-)licensed teacher, in the child’s learning environment or at the public school | Below 30th percentile → multidisciplinary learning-problems assessment; below 50th → extends licensed-teacher monitoring for diploma/GED-only parents | Filed | N.D.C.C. §15.1-23-09 |
| Ohio | No testing | None required | — | Assessments gone since Oct 3, 2023 (HB 33) | — | — |
| Oklahoma | No testing | None required | — | No testing under the constitutional “other means” guarantee | — | — |
| Oregon | Test required | Grades 3, 5, 8, 10 | A “neutral person” (no relation by blood or marriage) administers an approved-list test | Below 15th percentile → retest next year; repeated low scores → licensed-teacher supervision, then possible enrollment order up to 12 months | Kept | ORS 339.035; OAR 581-021-0026 |
| Pennsylvania | Test required | Evaluator certification yearly; standardized tests in grades 3, 5, 8 only (inside the portfolio) | Tests: anyone EXCEPT the parent/guardian, from PDE’s list; evaluator: licensed psychologist or qualified PA-certified/nonpublic teacher | No passing score on the 3/5/8 tests; evaluator certifies “appropriate education is occurring” | Filed | 24 P.S. §13-1327.1(e),(h.1) |
| Rhode Island | Assessment (non-test option) | Town by town under school-committee approval | Per committee — some require standardized testing, others accept portfolio or progress documentation | Per committee | Filed | R.I.G.L. §16-19-1 |
| South Carolina | Option-dependent | Option 1 (district-approved) only: annual statewide testing program | State program | Within the program | Filed | S.C. Code §§59-65-40,-45,-47 |
| South Dakota | No testing | None required | — | Testing removed by SB 177 (2021) | — | — |
| Tennessee | Test required | Grades 5, 7, 9 (independent home school) | The commissioner or designee, free at the public school, or an LEA-approved service at parent expense | Behind 6–9 months → licensed-teacher consult + remediation; >1 year behind on two consecutive tests → director may require school enrollment | Filed | T.C.A. §49-6-3050(b) |
| Texas | No testing | None required | — | No testing — homeschools are private schools (Leeper) | — | — |
| Utah | No testing | None required | — | Districts are barred from requiring testing | — | — |
| Vermont | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually (End of Year Assessment) | Option A: a standardized assessment; B: a VT-certified-teacher review; C: parent report + portfolio with ≥4 work samples | No floor | Kept | 16 V.S.A. §166b; Act 66 (2023) |
| Virginia | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually — evidence to the superintendent by August 1 | Any nationally normed test (no named administrator), or ACT/SAT/PSAT; or an evaluator (licensed-to-teach or master’s-degree holder) | Composite in/above the 4th stanine (23rd percentile); short → one-year probation + remediation plan | Filed | Va. Code §22.1-254.1(C) |
| Washington | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually, every year | SBE-approved test by a “qualified individual,” or a written assessment by “a certificated person currently working in the field of education” | No floor; not making reasonable progress → parent “shall make a good-faith effort to remedy” | Kept | RCW 28A.200.010(1)(c) |
| West Virginia | Assessment (non-test option) | Annually; results submitted only at grades 3, 5, 8, 11 | Test by a publisher-qualified administrator (parent may qualify), normed within 10 years; or a certified-teacher portfolio review | Mean within/above the 4th stanine (23rd percentile) OR improvement; short → remediation/improvement process | Filed | W. Va. Code §18-8-1(c)(2) |
| Wisconsin | No testing | None required | — | No testing — DPI cannot monitor the program | — | — |
| Wyoming | No testing | None required | — | Annual curriculum filing, but no student assessment | — | — |
“Results: Filed” = submitted to an official; “Kept” = retained by the family, not filed. South Carolina is option-dependent — testing applies only under the district-approval Option 1, not the majority accountability-association path. General information, not legal advice.
Your state, in plain English.
Everything stays in your browser — nothing is sent to us. The full state guide, with deadlines and funding, is one click from the table.
How we counted (because the listicles don’t say)
A state counts as an assessment state if its primary homeschool statute — the default path, not an umbrella or private-school alternative — requires a periodic academic assessment of the student in at least one grade, whether by test, professional evaluation, official portfolio review, or filed progress evidence, and regardless of whether results are submitted. That yields 21 states.
The widely repeated “nine states” figure comes from one advocacy page and is stale: it still lists South Dakota (testing repealed in 2021) and predates Vermont’s 2023 change, while leaving out New Hampshire, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Washington — all of which mandate annual assessment but let families keep the results. Its unstated criterion was really “assessed and seen by an official.” The “twenty-four states” figure can’t be reconstructed at all. We don’t repeat either; we show our rule and the list.
Most “testing” states don’t require a test
Twelve of the 21 assessment states accept a non-test option — a portfolio review, a certified-teacher evaluation, or a parent report. What each reviewer may examine and the limits on what they can demand are in the portfolio guide and checklist generator. Where a test is unavoidable, the floor is usually the 4th stanine (23rd percentile) or a year of growth, paired with a remediation path rather than an automatic penalty.
Two corrections worth knowing, because the internet gets them wrong: New Hampshire removed its 40th-percentile floor in 2022, and its law now bars using results to end a homeschool; Maryland requires no standardized test at all — its assessment is the portfolio review, and the testing regulation is explicitly titled “Voluntary Participation.”
Questions families actually ask
Which states require a standardized test?
Nine make one unavoidable on the default path: Georgia, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Twelve more require an assessment but accept a portfolio or evaluation instead, and 28 require nothing.
Do the scores get sent to the state?
In some states yes (Colorado, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania’s certification, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia’s grades 3/5/8/11); in others the family keeps them, unfiled (Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, Maryland). Oregon files only on request.
What happens if my child scores low?
Most floors trigger a retest and a remediation plan, not removal — Virginia and West Virginia use the 23rd percentile, New York the 33rd, Colorado the 13th, Oregon the 15th. New Hampshire has no floor at all since 2022. The table’s consequence column has your state.
Can I avoid testing by using an umbrella school?
In some states, yes — Tennessee families who enroll in a Category IV church-related school are private-school students and skip the 5/7/9 testing; Maryland and Florida umbrella supervision replaces the county/portfolio process. The laws-by-state hub shows each state’s pathways.
Want the updates as the laws change?
This table is re-verified against statutes and agency guidance — New Hampshire dropped its score floor in 2022, Vermont stopped collecting results in 2023, and we track exactly that kind of change. Leave an email and we’ll let you know when something shifts.
Whatever your state asks, the records make it easy.
10Talents keeps the work samples, grades, and test results your state’s assessment runs on — and builds the portfolio a reviewer can open. Testing year or not, the evidence is already there.
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