Louisiana BESE Home Study EdLink Portal: How to Apply and Renew

If you're enrolling in Louisiana's BESE Approved Home Study Program for the first time — or returning to submit your annual renewal — everything runs through the EdLink portal. It's the state's centralized platform for home study administration, and knowing how to navigate it correctly prevents delays that can push you past the October 1 renewal deadline.

This post covers what EdLink is, how to create or recover your account, and what you'll encounter when submitting a new application or renewal.

What Is the EdLink Portal?

EdLink (edlink.doe.louisiana.gov) is the Louisiana Department of Education's online portal for school choice and home study administration. For BESE home study families, it's the system where you:

• Submit your initial home study program application
• File your annual renewal each August through October
• Upload supporting documentation (portfolio packet, test scores, or teacher evaluation)
• Receive official approval status notifications

LDOE moved to EdLink to centralize home study record-keeping. Before this system existed, families dealt with paper-based applications mailed to the state. EdLink streamlined the process considerably, though it has a learning curve the first time through.

Creating Your EdLink Account

If you're new to the BESE program, you'll need to create an account before submitting any application.

Go to edlink.doe.louisiana.gov and look for the account registration option. You'll need:

• A valid email address (this becomes your login and where LDOE contacts you)
• Basic information about yourself (name, address, phone number)
• Your student's information (name, date of birth, grade level)

Create your account using an email address you check regularly. BESE communications — approval notices, deficiency alerts, renewal reminders — go to this address. Parents who use an old or rarely-checked email miss critical notices.

Once registered, you'll receive a confirmation email to verify your account. Complete that verification before trying to log back in and submit anything.

Submitting a New Application

For first-time applicants, after logging in you'll find an option to submit a new home study application. The application collects:

Basic program information:

• Your name and contact information
• Student's name, date of birth, and current grade level
• Proposed start date for the home study program

Evidence of curriculum quality: Even at initial application, BESE requires a demonstration that your program meets the sustained curriculum standard. For a new application, this typically means submitting a description of your planned curriculum — the subjects you intend to teach and the materials you plan to use.

New applicants don't yet have a year's worth of work samples to show, so BESE evaluates intent and structure at this stage. A clearly written curriculum outline that covers the four required core subjects (Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies) and names specific curricula or materials is what reviewers look for.

Uploading documents: The portal accepts PDF uploads. For your initial application, you may need to upload:

• A curriculum plan or course outline
• A list of materials you plan to use
• Any other documentation you want to include to support your application

Name your uploaded files clearly before uploading. Files named "scan001.pdf" or "document(3).pdf" create confusion; files named "CurriculumOutline-GradeX-2025.pdf" are immediately identifiable.

After submission, you'll receive a confirmation that your application is under review. Initial applications typically take a few weeks to process. You can log back into EdLink to check your approval status.

Filing Your Annual Renewal

Existing BESE families must renew each year through EdLink. The renewal window opens in early August and closes October 1. This deadline is firm.

When you log in during the renewal window, you'll see an option to begin your renewal submission. The renewal process will ask you to confirm or update:

• Your contact information and address
• Your student's current grade level (critical — make sure this advances from the prior year)
• Your selected evidence method (portfolio packet, test scores, or certified teacher evaluation)

Selecting Your Evidence Method

You choose one of three options when filing your renewal:

Packet of Materials: Upload your portfolio — the outline of subjects taught, list of materials used, and work samples from the school year. This is the most common option and gives families full control over what documentation they submit.

Standardized Test Scores: Upload a copy of your child's official score report from a nationally normed test (CAT, ITBS, Stanford Achievement Test, etc.). The test must have been administered during the current school year. The score report needs to clearly identify the student and the test level.

Certified Teacher Evaluation: Upload a signed evaluation letter from a Louisiana-certified teacher confirming that your program meets the sustained curriculum standard. The letter should be on letterhead or clearly identify the teacher's certification.

Uploading Renewal Documents

The EdLink upload interface allows multiple file uploads per submission. Before uploading, organize your files:

• Keep your packet files clearly labeled by section (cover sheet, subject outline, materials list, work samples)
• If uploading work samples, scan them in a logical order and combine into a single PDF per subject if possible
• Check file sizes — very large PDFs (over 50MB) may have trouble uploading. Reduce scan resolution to 150-200 DPI for scanned documents if needed

After uploading, review the submission summary before finalizing. Confirm that all files appear, that the student's grade level is correct, and that your email address is current. Then submit.

Save the confirmation receipt. EdLink generates a submission confirmation with a timestamp. That receipt is your proof of on-time filing if there's ever a question.

Common EdLink Problems and How to Handle Them

Forgotten password or username. Use the "Forgot Password" or "Forgot Username" links on the login page. LDOE sends a reset link to your registered email. If you no longer have access to the email address you registered with, contact LDOE directly to update your account — don't wait until late September to discover this problem.

Returning student not appearing in your account. If you're filing a renewal and your student's record doesn't appear when you log in, verify that you're using the correct account. Families who created multiple accounts over the years sometimes log into the wrong one.

Upload errors for large files. Reduce file size by scanning at lower resolution or splitting large work sample submissions into multiple files. The portal typically handles PDFs up to 25-50MB without issue.

Not receiving confirmation emails. Check your spam folder immediately after submitting. LDOE emails sometimes get filtered. If you don't see a confirmation in your inbox or spam within 24 hours, log back into EdLink to verify your submission status.

Submitting after October 1. The portal closes the renewal submission window after the deadline. If you've missed it, contact LDOE directly by phone. There's no automated remedy — you'll need to speak with someone in the home study office about your options.

After You Submit

BESE reviews submissions in the order received. Approvals typically come through within a few weeks of submission. If your packet is incomplete or has issues, LDOE will send a deficiency notice to your registered email with specific instructions for what needs to be corrected.

Responding to deficiency notices quickly is important. You'll have a short window to provide the missing or corrected information. If you miss the response window, the application can be rejected, which means reapplying and the gap in approval status that creates.

Once approved, you'll receive an approval confirmation through EdLink and by email. Your BESE approval is valid for the current school year and will need to be renewed again the following August.

Keeping Your EdLink Account Current

A few administrative habits that prevent EdLink headaches:

• Update your email address in your account any time you change it
• Log into EdLink at the start of each school year (August) to verify your account is active before the renewal rush
• Keep your submission confirmation receipts somewhere accessible — a dedicated folder in your email or a cloud document folder labeled "BESE Records"

The EdLink portal is the administrative gateway for your BESE status. Staying organized about your account access and renewal timing removes the last-minute pressure that catches families off-guard every fall.

For families who want to make sure their documentation is structured correctly before uploading — the subject outlines, materials lists, and work sample organization that reviewers expect to see — the Louisiana Portfolio & Assessment Templates provides the exact forms aligned to BESE's requirements.

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