This is not legal advice. As someone who lives in a state that is highly regulated, I cannot emphasize enough the need for you to advocate for yourself and make a point to know your state laws. While the school district will most likely provide you with a printed copy of the laws and regulations for home schooling, a local home schooling group can be a valuable asset when it comes to navigating your way through the system.
In Washington State, there are two options under which a parent is legally allowed to homeschool a child. For information on homeschooling under the Washington State Homeschooling Statute, as well as required subjects and compulsory attendance laws, please see the earlier post on Washington State homeschooling laws. This blog will address standardized testing requirements and homeschooling as an extension of a private school.
Option 2: An Extension of an Approved Private School
Parents may take part in an approved extension of an established private school. It’s important to note that Washington State law specifies (in numerous places) that you may only teach your own child and children that are in your legal custody. Students participating in this type of extension are considered to be privately schooled students by the state. All curriculum and learning progress will be monitored by a certificated person from the private school.
Standardized Testing:
If you are homeschooling under the homeschool statute, parents must ensure that a standardized test approved by the state board is administered annually to the child by a qualified person or the parents may have the child evaluated by a certificated person. It’s important to note that neither the results of the standardized achievement test nor the evaluation results need to be submitted to the public schools. The results must be retained by the parents as part of the child’s permanent records.
If you are homeschooling under an extension program of a private school, each student’s progress must be evaluated by the certificated person in charge.
Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
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