Maryland homeschool evaluation
Who may evaluate, when, and what goes to whom, in the law's words. We name no evaluators and recommend none.
No test is required. Instead the parent keeps a portfolio, and the local superintendent or a designee reviews it at the end of each semester, at a time that suits both sides, no more than three reviews a year. A child may take the public school's standardized tests on request.
Checked October 27, 2026 against Maryland's statute and education department. Information, not legal advice: they are the final word.
In the law's words
“Shall be reviewed by the local superintendent or the superintendent's designee at the conclusion of each semester of the local school system”
“Upon request of a parent or guardian, a child receiving home instruction may participate in the regularly scheduled standardized testing programs”
When
- At the end of each semester: The local superintendent or a designee reviews your portfolio.
Each date is on the Maryland 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 Maryland counts them: the reading log, attendance and hours.
- Any test scores you are using: the test-score log. Which tests Maryland 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.