Home Schooling

To comply with Virginia state law, evidence of academic progress must be submitted to the CCPS home instruction specialist annually by Aug. 1. Note: the evaluation requirement does not apply to children under the age of six as of September 30. Evidence of academic progress may be provided in one of the following ways:

1. Attainment of a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test; or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT or PSAT test; or 
2. An evaluation or assessment the superintendent determines to indicate that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress, including, but not limited to: 
   1. an evaluation letter stating the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress from
      1. a person licensed to teach in any state or
      2. a person with a master’s degree or higher in an academic discipline who has knowledge of the child’s academic progress
   2. a report card or transcript from a college, college distance learning program or home-education correspondence school

Examples of nationally-normed, standardized tests include: The California Achievement Test (CAT), the IOWA Assessments, the Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford 10), TerraNova2, PSAT, SAT and ACT tests. Parents may submit their child’s test scores from a nationally-normed, standardized achievement assessment of their choosing. CCPS does not maintain a list of test publishers; parents must identify and purchase an applicable test for their child. Any evaluation or assessment must be sufficient to allow the superintendent to determine the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress.

Note: Score reports for the ACT, SAT or PSAT test may not contain scores expressed in stanines. These tests may show reports in percentiles. Students with a national composite score at or above a percentile score of 23 meet the requirement for academic progress.

If the child’s performance does not fall within the fourth stanine, the equivalent or higher, or the required evidence of progress is not provided, and the child may continue with home instruction the following school year. The home instruction program may be placed on probation for one year and the parent/guardian must file a remediation plan and evidence of the ability to provide an adequate education. The superintendent’s designee will determine whether these submissions are adequate. The designee is not required to place the program on probation or accept the remediation plan. However, if the plan and evidence are not accepted or the required evidence is not provided by Aug. 1 following the probationary year, home instruction must end and the parent must make other arrangements that comply with the compulsory attendance law.

Those who plan to continue home instruction should submit evidence of progress via the notice of intent form. Those who do not plan to homeschool the following year should submit evidence of progress via email to [email protected] or mail to 13800 Hull Street Road, Midlothian, Va. 23112, with a note indicating why you will not continue home instruction (Example: Moved out of Chesterfield County, enrolled in CCPS or another public school, enrolled in a private school).