Florida law requires home education students to be evaluated once a calendar year (or within 30 days of ending homeschooling) to verify that the students have been educated.
A portfolio review is a type of evaluation that is a simple look at records (or a sampling) kept of the child's learning to verify that learning has occurred.
A portfolio review is a type of evaluation that is a simple look at records (or a sampling) kept of the child's learning to verify that learning has occurred.
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We offer three options
for virtual homeschool portfolio review evaluations. 1. Evaluation via our online form and/or email
with a brief follow-up phone call. This is the fastest option for those in a hurry and our most popular option. 
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Ready for an online/email evaluation? Go directly to our form. 2. Evaluation via
live video call 
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Ready to schedule an appointment for an evaluation done entirely during a live video call ?
Go directly to our video evaluation form. 
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An option for those who want to begin the evaluation months in advance and get extra support.
(Not available from May 15 until Sept. 1) Go to Evaluation with Extra Support for our form. 
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We provide consultations for those who need more in-depth assistance in planning their homeschooling, choosing curricula, organizing records, proofing transcripts, etc. than provided here or on our Facebook pages FLHomeschoolEvaluations and HomeschoolingFloridaStyle
Yes! We do evaluations year-round. 
Florida Dept. of Education's Office of Choice's official Home Education FAQ was updated in Dec 2021 with slight changes to official Home Education policy. There are now two versions of the official Home Education FAQ: one directed at parents and another at school districts. Missed (or about to miss) a deadline due to Hurricane Ian
(or other problem)? If you can, email your home education contact (use button below) to let them know that you are aware of the evaluation deadline and are in contact with an evaluator and will get the paperwork to them once you are able. That should grant you extra time. Even if the district doesn't specifically grant extra time, once the evaluation is turned in, all should be well. |
A portfolio review evaluation is NOT a test. 
If your child is regularly learning and you've kept records of that learning, passing the evaluation should not be a worry. 
Our online/email evaluation requires a follow-up phone call with the child. This is not a quiz or test, but rather a quick chat.
View video for more details. Late? Missed Your Evaluation Deadline? Use our email evaluation option to send some photos or scans of your records and get the evaluation done quickly. Sending an email to your school district letting them know you are getting it done may help buy you some time. Once you send in the evaluation, all should be well. We are a
direct pay provider for students on the Florida Empowerment Scholarship: Unique Abilities (previously known as the Gardiner Scholarship) through FL Step Up for Kids. Include a copy of your child's Gardiner ID card or Gardiner Student ID# OR ask for a receipt for reimbursement instead. This state-funded scholarship provides funds to students with certain special needs (Autism, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and more) and is administered through two organizations: FL Step Up for Kids and AAA NO!!Districts cannot change the deadlines set by Florida law and the FL Dept. of Education's Office of Choice's official policy. No district can demand that all evaluations be turned in by a certain date on the calendar as evaluations are due no later than the anniversary of YOUR letter of intent (unless you are telling the district that you are done homeschooling--then the evaluation is due within 30 days of your Letter of Termination.) When shown the law and FL DOE Office of Choice policy, districts which attempted to give the same deadline to all their families have backed down. Keeping a Portfolio
Florida law requires the parent to keep records called a portfolio. This video shows the start of our child's portfolio with tips on options for keeping records that meet Florida legal standards.
(See our Portfolio Examples page for more information.) 
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Finished Homeschooling?
If your child is graduating or if you are going to put your child in a school in the fall, a Letter of Termination should be sent to the district and an evaluation should be sent either with the Letter of Termination or within 30 days. A school will likely want a grade report and/or transcript.
If you are moving to another Florida school district and will continue homeschooling, you can use the transfer request form and keep the same evaluation deadline. Information
Ever since our beginning, FL Homeschool Evaluations has worked to help homeschool parents by providing accurate, up-to-date information on homeschooling laws and policies as well as helping with questions about practical questions on how to homeschool. We have answered thousands of questions online and via email from parents and posted lots of information that we believe will help homeschool families. We have helped fight back when district officials have over-stepped their bounds and have been successful. More recently, we have helped vet, correct, and improve the Florida Dept. of Education's Office of Choice's official Home Education FAQ and develop legally compliant forms for them. Much of our information has been spread across various places including Yahoo! Groups, various Facebook groups and pages, and on support group pages. We are working to consolidate this information in one location and are adding more information over time. Here we will highlight some resources we think parents may find useful.
And some information about us and our services:
Please let us know if you need more information. Cheryl Trzasko Homeschool mom and evaluator since 2003 Florida law requires home educated students to be evaluated
once a year by the anniversary of their Letter of Intent (or within 30 days of terminating a home education program.) The evaluation might be a test. But it doesn't have to. Parents can choose from 5 options. 3 options involve testing: 1. Testing can be done in a public school during regular state testing. (This option wasn't possible in 2020 because state testing was cancelled.) 2. Any other nationally-normed achievement testing administered by a FL certified teacher. Some homeschool support groups organize testing sessions with a certified teacher--the cost is usually around $50-$70 a child. By law, if the child tests above the 35th percentile, the child passes. 3. Testing with a psychologist. The portfolio review, the fourth option, is NOT a test; instead a FL certified teacher reviews records of the child's learning to verify that the child has been educated. A fifth option allows for any other type of evaluation the parent and district agree on. New to homeschooling?
Start Homeschooling If you've just started homeschooling, an evaluation won't be needed for almost a year (or within 30 days of finishing homeschooling) though you can choose our Evaluation with Extra Support option and begin now if you have started to keep records. Go here for information on getting started. We have pages with information on curriculum and/or unschooling, high school and graduation requirements, special needs, and more. See the Homeschool Information tab for more information. |
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Learning at home together in our house.
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