Louisiana Homeschool Student Assessment Template: What to Include for BESE Renewal

The Louisiana LDOE tells you that your annual BESE renewal requires a "packet of materials" — and then stops there. No template. No example. No rubric for what a "sustained curriculum of quality" looks like on paper. Parents are handed a legal standard and left to figure out how to meet it without ever seeing what a passing submission actually contains.

This post breaks down exactly what goes into a BESE-compliant student assessment template, how to structure each component, and what the LDOE is actually looking for when a reviewer opens your renewal packet.

What the LDOE Is Actually Evaluating

Before building your template, understand the goal. Louisiana Revised Statute 17:236.1 requires BESE Home Study families to demonstrate that their program has provided instruction "of quality at least equal to that offered by public schools at the same grade level" in core subjects. The LDOE does not define "equal quality" with a rubric or grade scale. The reviewer is making a professional judgment: does this documentation convincingly show that a child received substantive instruction across the required subject areas throughout the year?

Your assessment template is the tool that makes that judgment easy to reach — and reach favorably. A well-structured template speaks the same language the LDOE uses, presents evidence in a clear and organized format, and makes the reviewer's job simple.

The Core Components of a BESE Assessment Template

1. Cover Sheet: Program Identification and Summary

The first page of your packet should function as a professional cover sheet that immediately orients the LDOE reviewer. This page should include:

• Student's full legal name
• Student's date of birth
• Student's current grade level
• Academic year being reported (e.g., 2025–2026)
• BESE Home Study program name (if you have named your school)
• Parent/educator name(s) and contact information
• Parish of residence
• A brief statement confirming the renewal method being used (curriculum packet, standardized test scores, or certified teacher statement)

For families maintaining BESE approval through the curriculum packet method, the cover sheet should also include a brief summary: total number of instructional days completed, primary curriculum programs used, and core subjects covered. This front-loads the most important confirmatory information and ensures a reviewer immediately sees that the basics are covered.

Some families use a single declarative sentence modeled on the statutory language: "This packet documents a sustained curriculum of quality provided to [Student Name] during the [Year] academic year, meeting the requirements of R.S. 17:236.1 for the BESE-Approved Home Study Program." This direct language signals that the parent understands the legal standard they are meeting.

2. Subject Outline and Curriculum Bibliography

Louisiana statute requires that your renewal packet include an outline of subjects taught and a list of books and materials used. This is not optional — it is one of the explicitly enumerated requirements in the law.

Subject outline: List each subject area and the specific topics or units covered. For a fifth-grader in mathematics, the outline might read: "Fractions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), decimals, percentages, beginning algebraic concepts, geometry (perimeter, area, volume), long division review." More detail is better than less. A vague subject list ("Math, Reading, Science") tells the reviewer almost nothing.

The state mandates coverage of these four core subjects at minimum:

• Mathematics
• English Language Arts (reading, writing, grammar, composition)
• Science
• Social Studies

Any additional subjects — foreign language, art, music, physical education, logic, typing, coding — can be listed and strengthen the impression of a comprehensive program, but they are supplementary.

Curriculum bibliography: List every material used for instruction. This includes textbooks and workbooks (with publisher and edition if available), online programs and subscriptions (Time4Learning, IXL, Khan Academy, etc.), library books used for unit studies, co-op classes attended, and external courses taken through dual enrollment or online providers.

The bibliography does not need to be formally formatted like an academic works-cited page. A clear, organized list with enough identifying information that the reviewer can recognize the resource is sufficient.

3. Attendance and Instructional Days Log

Louisiana requires 180 days of instruction per school year for BESE Home Study compliance. Your assessment template needs documentation that confirms this minimum was met.

The attendance log does not need to be elaborate. What it needs to be is complete and credible. The log should show:

• Individual dates or date ranges of instruction
• A count confirming the total reaches 180 days
• A note for any extended absences or gaps, with a brief explanation if the situation warrants one

Many families log attendance weekly rather than daily — recording "Week of [date]: 5 days" rather than listing each day individually. Weekly logging is simpler to maintain and still provides the verification the LDOE needs. The critical thing is that the log is not obviously fabricated all at once — consistent, dated entries made throughout the year look genuinely maintained.

For families who combine formal academic work with field trips, educational travel, co-op days, and practical learning experiences, each of these can count toward the 180-day requirement if it was intentionally educational. Field trips should be logged with a note on the educational purpose rather than simply listing the date and location.

4. Core Subject Evidence Sheets

The work sample component is where most families underestimate what is needed and where most renewal packets are weakest. The LDOE expects to see actual student output — not descriptions of what the student learned, but evidence of it.

A useful structure for each core subject is a subject evidence sheet: a single page that introduces the subject coverage for that year and organizes the attached work samples. The evidence sheet should include:

• Subject name and grade level
• Brief narrative description of what was covered and how (one or two paragraphs)
• A list of the work samples attached and what each demonstrates

Then the attached work samples follow. For mathematics, these might be completed test pages, a problem-solving project, or a word problem assignment that shows multi-step reasoning. For English Language Arts, strong samples include written essays or compositions, grammar exercises, a reading response, and a book report or literature project. For science, lab reports, experiment write-ups, or a research project work well. For social studies, a written report, timeline, map project, or current events response.

Select work samples that show your child's actual thinking and reasoning — not just a page of computation answers, but something that demonstrates applied understanding. Include a range from across the year, not just a stack of work from May. Reviewers are looking for evidence that instruction happened throughout the year, not just in the weeks before the deadline.

5. High School Transcript (Grades 9–12)

For high school students, the assessment template must expand to include a formal academic transcript. The BESE renewal process for high school years is integrated with TOPS scholarship documentation, making the transcript the most important single document in the packet.

A Louisiana BESE-compliant high school transcript should include:

Student identification section: Name, date of birth, BESE program name, parish, graduation date (or expected graduation date), home study code (969999).

Course record by year: List each course taken in each grade level, the credit hours earned, and the grade received. A standard year of high school in Louisiana is counted at one credit per year-long course. Use standard Louisiana course codes where possible — this facilitates LOSFA's TOPS review and removes ambiguity.

GPA calculation: Compute both unweighted and weighted GPA if you have offered any honors-level or dual enrollment coursework. Show the calculation formula so a university admissions officer or LOSFA reviewer can verify it.

ACT/CLT scores: Include the student's best composite score, with date of test and testing site. List the TOPS tier the score qualifies for at current thresholds.

BESE enrollment verification: Note the years enrolled in BESE-Approved Home Study status. LOSFA requires documented proof of 11th and 12th-grade BESE enrollment for TOPS eligibility.

Signature line: The parent-educator signs and dates the transcript as the school administrator. For additional credibility, have a certified teacher evaluator countersign as a verification step.

6. End-of-Year Assessment Summary (Optional but Valuable)

Some families include a one to two-page narrative summary written by the parent at the end of the academic year. This is not required, but it provides context that work samples alone cannot convey.

The summary describes the overall shape of the academic year: what the student mastered, what was challenging and how the curriculum responded, any notable projects or accomplishments, and what academic goals are being carried into the following year. For students with learning differences, the summary can briefly explain how the curriculum accommodated those needs while maintaining substantive academic instruction.

A well-written parent narrative makes the packet feel like a complete academic record rather than a stack of papers. Reviewers respond to this — it communicates that the parent has been genuinely engaged and reflective about their child's education throughout the year.

Organizing the Final Packet

The physical or digital organization of your renewal packet matters more than most families realize. A disordered packet — even if the individual components are strong — signals disorganization and makes a reviewer's job harder. A clearly organized packet communicates competence before a reviewer reads a single page of content.

A standard organization is:

1. Cover sheet
2. Subject outline and curriculum bibliography
3. Attendance log
4. Core subject evidence sections (one per subject, with evidence sheet followed by work samples)
5. High school transcript (grades 9–12 only)
6. End-of-year narrative summary (if included)
7. Any supplementary documentation (certified teacher statement if included, test score reports if applicable)

If submitting digitally through the LDOE's EdLink portal, use clearly named PDF files. Name files descriptively: "Smith_2026_Attendance_Log.pdf" rather than "document3.pdf." The LDOE reviewer is processing many applications — clear naming reduces friction and reduces the chance that a file is overlooked.

Common Template Mistakes That Lead to Weak Renewals

Vague subject outlines. "We did math" is not a subject outline. A subject outline names topics and confirms substantive coverage.

Work samples only from the last month of school. This signals that documentation happened in a panic rather than throughout the year. Spread sample dates across the academic calendar.

Missing attendance log or implausibly round numbers. If your log says "180 days" without any dates, it will not be credible. Log real dates throughout the year.

Generic curriculum lists without Louisiana-specific context. Listing "various reading materials" is less useful than listing the specific books, programs, or curricula used.

High school transcripts with missing fields. A transcript that does not list course codes, does not show a GPA calculation, and does not include ACT/CLT scores leaves too much to inference for TOPS purposes.

The Louisiana Portfolio & Assessment Templates includes a complete set of BESE-aligned templates covering each component described above — the subject evidence sheets, 180-day attendance log, TOPS documentation checklist, and auto-formatted high school transcript — designed specifically for Louisiana's renewal requirements and updated for Act 359 TOPS parity changes.

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