Virginia homeschool evaluation
Who may evaluate, when, and what goes to whom, in the law's words. We name no evaluators and recommend none.
By August 1 after the school year, give the division superintendent either (i) evidence of a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on a nationally normed standardized achievement test (or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT or PSAT), or (ii) an evaluation or assessment the superintendent finds shows adequate growth and progress, such as a letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or with a master's degree or higher, or a report card or transcript from a college, distance learning program or home-education correspondence school. This does not apply to children under age six as of September 30 of the school year.
Checked October 27, 2026 against Virginia's statute and education department. Information, not legal advice: they are the final word.
In the law's words
“The parent who elects to provide home instruction shall provide the division superintendent by August 1 following the school year in which the child has received home instruction with either (i) evidence that the child has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test”
When
- By August 1: Give the division superintendent evidence of progress for the year just finished: a test score in or above the fourth stanine, or an evaluation.
Each date is on the Virginia 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 Virginia counts them: the reading log, attendance and hours.
- Any test scores you are using: the test-score log. Which tests Virginia 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.