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What does a homeschool evaluator look for?

An evaluation is a person looking at a year of your child's work and saying, in writing, whether it shows progress. Who that person may be, and what they look at, is set by your state's law.

An evaluator looks for what the state's law asks for: usually a year of dated work across the required subjects, sometimes a talk with the child, and then a written result for the office it goes to. Peabody's state law pages find 15 states whose law names an evaluation path; each has its own page with the statute's words, who may evaluate, and ten questions to ask.

Checked October 30, 2026.

By Peabody editors.

This is a plain-words summary, not legal advice. Laws change: check your state's current law and its education department before you act.

Which states name an evaluation, and who may do it?

Each link opens the state's evaluation page: the rule in the record's words, the law's own quote with its source, the dates where the state sets them, and what goes to whom.

  • Colorado: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • Florida: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • Hawaii: a test, or a written evaluation for the yearly report.
  • Iowa: it varies; the page says on what.
  • Louisiana: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • Maine: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • Maryland: an evaluation.
  • Massachusetts: it varies; the page says on what.
  • New York: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • Pennsylvania: an evaluation.
  • Rhode Island: it varies; the page says on what.
  • Vermont: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • Virginia: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • Washington: a test or an evaluation, your choice.
  • West Virginia: a test or an evaluation, your choice.

What do they usually ask to see?

  • Dated work samples from the start, middle and end of the year, in each subject the state names. The portfolio keeps them by subject and date.
  • The reading list, and the days or hours where the state counts them: the reading log, attendance and hours.
  • Test scores, if a test is part of the method you chose: the test-score log.
  • Nothing the law does not ask for. If an evaluator wants more than the law's words, ask why.

What does it cost?

Fees vary; ask before you book. We list none: they differ by person and change from year to year.

How do I get it all on paper?

The year-end packet prints the year from the Record Book in order: attendance, hours, reading, the report card, portfolio pages, test scores, field trips, and what your state asks you to keep. The evaluation packet lets you pick the parts.

Sources