Colorado homeschool evaluation
Who may evaluate, when, and what goes to whom, in the law's words. We name no evaluators and recommend none.
In grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11, each child takes a nationally standardized achievement test or a qualified person (a licensed teacher, a teacher at an independent or parochial school, a licensed psychologist, or someone with a graduate degree in education) evaluates the child's progress. The results go to the school district that received your notice, or to an independent or parochial school. A composite score at or below the 13th percentile (after a chance to retest) means the district requires the child to be placed in a school until the next testing period.
Checked October 27, 2026 against Colorado's statute and education department. Information, not legal advice: they are the final word.
In the law's words
“Each child shall be given a nationally standardized achievement test to evaluate the child's academic progress, or a qualified person shall evaluate the child's academic progress.”
When
- In grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11: Each child takes a nationally standardized achievement test, or a qualified person evaluates the child's progress.
Each date is on the Colorado checklist with its source.
What an evaluator looks at
Whatever the method the law allows asks for, and no more than the law asks. For a review, that usually means work across the year in each subject the state names, with dates on it; for a test, the score report. Bring what fits your method:
- Dated work samples from the start, middle and end of the year: the portfolio keeps them by subject.
- The reading list and the days or hours, if Colorado counts them: the reading log, attendance and hours.
- Any test scores you are using: the test-score log. Which tests Colorado accepts.
- All of it on one printout: the evaluation packet.
What it costs
Fees vary; ask before you book. We list none, because they differ by person and change from year to year.
Ten questions to ask an evaluator
- Which of the state's allowed methods do you use, and what makes you qualified for it under the law?
- What do you want to see: how many work samples, from which months, in which subjects?
- Do you meet the child, for how long, and where?
- What do you write, and in what form does it reach the office it goes to?
- When will we have the written result, and is that before the state's date?
- What is your fee, and what does it include?
- What happens if you have a concern about progress?
- Do you keep a copy, and for how long?
- Can you see more than one child in one visit?
- Will the result say which method was used, in the law's words?
Finding one
Families usually find an evaluator through a local homeschool group or co-op; see homeschool organizations by state. Check the person against the law's own words above, not against a list: we keep no list and endorse no one.