Home Schooling
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
HOME
EDUCATION ACT 169 OF 1988
The
provisions state the requirements of the law as passed by the General Assembly
with the exception of Section III. Compliance with that section is voluntary.
In
the last term of 1988, the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed into
law Act 169, which amends the compulsory school attendance law. Prior to Act
169, Section 1327 of the School Code contained one category of home education --
private tutoring -- subject to the approval of the district superintendent of
schools. Act 169 created a second category of home education: education by a
parent, guardian or legal custodian. There have also been changes in the
process by which superintendents provide information and then monitor such
programs to ensure that each child receives an appropriate education.
The following explains
the new regulations:
I. PRIVATE TUTORING
(Section 1327)
Private tutoring by a properly qualified tutor is permitted. A properly
qualified tutor is one who:
A. Possesses
Pennsylvania public school certification
B. Teaches one
or more children who are members of a single family
C. Provides the
majority of instruction to the children
D. Receives a fee
or other consideration
E. Has not been
convicted of any crime specified by the provisions of Act 34
To initiate
private tutoring, the tutor must file with the local superintendent a copy of
his or her teaching certificate and a processed Act 34 Request for Criminal
History Record Information.
The provisions of
the Home Education Section 1327.1 do not apply to
private tutoring.
II. HOME EDUCATION
(Section 1327.1)
Act 169 creates a
home education category designed to permit parents, guardians and legal
custodians to conduct a home education program for their children. The parent
or guardian, called a "supervisor" must hold a high school diploma or its
equivalent, and has broad responsibility for the education of the child.
As set forth
below, school district superintendents exercise certain responsibilities
concerning home education programs for resident children before they begin, and
to review the programs so that they may be assured that each child educated at
home receives an appropriate education.
A. Affidavits
Before the home schooling of any child begins, the child's parent, guardian
or legal custodian who will be responsible for the provision of instruction to
the child must file an affidavit with the
superintendent of the child's district of residence. The affidavit must contain
the following:
1.
The name of the supervisor, the name and age of each child in the
program, and the address and phone number of the program site.
2.
An outline of proposed educational objectives, by subject area, for the
subjects required by law. These subjects are to be offered in the English
language and include:
a.
Elementary Level
• English, to include spelling, reading and writing;
• Arithmetic;
• Science;
• Geography;
• History of the United States and Pennsylvania;
• Civics;
• Safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and
prevention of fires;
• Health and physiology;
• Physical education;
• Music;
• Art.
b.
Secondary Level
• English, to include language, literature, speech and
• Science;
• Geography;
• Social Studies, to include Civics, World History,
History of the United States and
Pennsylvania;
• Health;
• Safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and
prevention of fires;
• Mathematics, to include General Mathematics, Algebra, and Geometry;
• Art;
• Music;
• Physical education.
c.
At the Secondary Level, such courses may include, at the discretion of the
supervisor of
the Home Education Program the following:
• Economics;
• Biology;
• Chemistry;
• Foreign languages;
• Trigonometry;
• Or other age appropriate courses as contained in Chapter 5 (Curriculum Requirements)
of the State Board of Education.
d.
The following minimum courses in grades nine through
twelve are established as a requirement for graduation from a Home Education
Program:
• Four years of English;
• Three years of mathematics;
• Three years of science;
• Three years of social studies;
• Two years of arts and humanities.
School districts are under no obligation to award a diploma or otherwise
acknowledge the completion of a home-educated student's education.
3.
Evidence of the child's immunization and evidence that the
child has received health services. 24 P.S. 13-1303a.
4.
Assurance that the education program meets the requirements of this Act.
5.
Certification that the supervisor and all adults living in the home and other
custodial adults have not been convicted of criminal offenses listed in Section
III(E) of Act 34, within the last five years immediately preceding the date of
the Affidavit. An Act 34 Criminal History Record is not required.
B.
Handicapped Students
Section 1327 provides that a home education program meets the compulsory
attendance requirements for students identified as handicapped only when the
program addresses the specific needs of the exceptional student and is approved
by a licensed clinical or certified psychologist or a teacher with a valid
certificate from the Commonwealth to teach special education. WRITTEN NOTICE OF
SUCH APPROVAL MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH THE NOTARIZED
AFFIDAVIT. The supervisor of a home education program may request that the
school district or intermediate unit of residence provide services that address
the specific needs of the exceptional student in the home education program.
When the provision of services is agreed to by both the supervisor and the
school district or intermediate unit, all services shall be provided in the
public schools or in a private school licensed to provide such programs and
services.
C. Portfolio
After filing the affidavit and commencing home education, the parent
or home education supervisor has a duty to demonstrate that appropriate
education is occurring. In order to make this demonstration, the home education
supervisor must provide and maintain on file a detailed portfolio of records and
materials for each student in home education. The portfolio must contain the
following:
1. A
contemporaneous log of instructional activity, which identifies by title the
reading materials,
used.
2. Sample
of any writings, work sheets, workbooks or creative materials used or developed
by
each child.
3. In
grades 3, 5, and 8, the results obtained on a "nationally-normed standardized
achievement test" approved by the Department for home school supervisors to
choose. The supervisor shall ensure that the nationally normed standardized
tests are not administered by the child's parent or guardian. The Department
has approved nine nationally normed standardized tests for home school use.
They are:
a.
Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
b.
California Achievement Test
c.
Stanford Achievement Test
d.
Metropolitan Achievement Test
e.
Science Research Associates
f.
Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills
g.
Comprehensive Testing Program (CTPIII)
h.
Wide Range Achievement Test
i.
Peabody Individual Test
D. Review and
Written Evaluation
At least annually, the work in the portfolio must be reviewed. One
of the following persons must prepare an annual written
evaluation of each student's educational progress:
1. A
licensed clinical or school psychologist,
2. A
teacher certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who possesses the specific
qualifications for evaluators in Section 13-1327.1(e)(2), or
3. A
non-public school teacher or administrator with at least two years experience
within the past ten years in a Pennsylvania public or non-public school who
possesses the specific qualifications for evaluations in Section
13-1327.1(e)(2).
E.
Certification After Review and Interview
The written evaluation must contain a certification of whether "an
appropriate education is occurring" based upon an interview of the child and the
results of the portfolio review. Any person selected by the supervisor can
conduct the annual review and evaluation, as long as he or she satisfied the
above-listed statutory requirements or has the prior approval of the
superintendent of the school district of residence and is not the parent or
guardian of the child in question.
F. Submission
to Superintendent
The portfolio and the annual written evaluation shall be provided to the
superintendent of the school district of residence at the conclusion of each
public school year. The superintendent must then determine whether the child is
receiving an "appropriate education," defined in Section 1327.1 as "a program
consisting of instruction in the required subjects for the time required in this
Act and in which the student demonstrates sustained progress in the overall
program." ANY TIME during the school year that the superintendent has a
reasonable belief that appropriate education may not be occurring in the home
education program, the superintendent may, by certified mail, return receipt
requested, require submission of the portfolio within 15 days and written
evaluation within 30 days. Superintendents should exercise this authority
whenever there is good reason to believe that a child is not demonstrating
"sustained progress in the overall program."
G. Notice of
Hearing
Based on the documentation provided, the superintendent may determine
that appropriate education is not taking place. If that occurs, the
superintendent shall send a certified letter, return receipt requested, to the
supervisor stating his or her opinion that an appropriate education is not
taking place. All documentation shall be returned to the supervisor and must
specify what aspect or aspects of the documentation are inadequate. The
superintendent may retain a copy of the documentation if he or she so chooses.
Upon receipt of the certified letter the supervisor of the home education
program shall have twenty (20) days to submit additional documentation
demonstrating that appropriate education is taking lace for the child in the
home education program. If documentation is not submitted within that time, the
home education program for the child shall be out of compliance with the
compulsory attendance requirements and the student shall be promptly enrolled in
the public school district of residence or a non-public school or a licensed
private academic school.
If additional documentation is submitted and the superintendent determines that
the additional documentation submitted still does not demonstrate that
appropriate education is taking lace in the home education program, he or she
shall so notify the supervisor of the home education program by certified mail,
return receipt requested, and the school board shall provide for a proper
hearing by a duly qualified and impartial hearing examiner within thirty (30)
days. The "Hearing Examiner" shall not be an officer, employee or agent of the
Department of Education or of the school district or intermediate unit of
residence of the child in the home education program. A solicitor or
superintendent from another district could, if impartial, carry out this
function. The examiner shall render a decision within fifteen (15) days of the
hearing except that he or she may require the establishment of a remedial
education plan mutually agreed to by the superintendent and supervisor of the
home education program. The decision of the examiner may be appealed by either
the supervisor or the superintendent to the Secretary of Education OR the
Commonwealth Court.
If the hearing examiner finds that the documentation does not indicate that
appropriate education is taking place in the home education program and there is
no appeal, the home education program for the child shall be out of compliance
with the requirements of Section 1327 and Section 1327.1, and the student shall
be promptly enrolled in the public school district of residence or a non-public
school or a licensed private academic school. At such time as the child's home
education program has been determined to be out of compliance, the supervisor or
spouse of the supervisor of the home education program shall be ineligible to
supervise a home education program for that child for a period of 12 months from
the date of such determination.
H. Loan of
Materials
The school district of residence shall, at the request of the supervisor,
lend to the home education program copies of the school district's planned
courses, textbooks and other curriculum materials appropriate to the student's
age and grade level. The opportunity to cooperate with supervisors of home
education programs in the loan of materials should be welcomed by the district
as a way to positively affect the home schooled child's education.
I. Transfers
When a home education program site is relocating to another school district
within this Commonwealth, the supervisor of the home education program must
apply, by registered mail, 30 days prior to the relocation, to the
superintendent of the district in which he or she currently resides, requesting
a letter of transfer for the home education program to the district to which the
home education program is relocating. The current superintendent of residence
must issue the letter of transfer no later than 30 days after receipt of the
registered mail request of the home education program supervisor. If the home
education program is not in compliance with Section 1327.1, the superintendent
of the current district of residence must inform the home education supervisor
and the superintendent of the district to which the home education program is
relocating the status of the home education program and the reason for the
denial of the letter of transfer. If the home education program is in hearing
procedures, the superintendent of the current district of residence must inform
the home education supervisor, the assigned hearing examiner and the
superintendent of the district to which the home education program is relocating
of the status of the home education program and the reason for the denial of the
letter of transfer.
The supervisor of the home education program must file the letter of transfer
with the superintendent of the new district of residence. In the case of
pending proceedings, the new district of residence superintendent shall continue
the home education program until the appeal process is complete.
III.
COOPERATION WITH HOME EDUCATION
In the
Department's view, friendly compliance with the home education law is in the
best interest of the children. For example, school districts can, if they wish,
allow home educated children to take the nationally normed tests that most
districts give to their students every year. Also, home educators must see that
their students receive the same health tests as Article 14 of the School Code
(24 P.S. 14-1401 et seq.) required of public school children. School districts
can extend to supervisors of home education programs the opportunity to have
home-educated children participate in the district's health program.
IV.
SAMPLE AFFIDAVIT
Attached is a
sample affidavit that indicates what information must
be supplied prior to the commencement of a home education program and annually
thereafter. Use of other forms is also permissible if they ensure that all the
legally required information is provided.
Affidavit
PSBA Policy #137 Home Education
Evaluator Report
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