North Dakota Homeschool Low Test Scores: What Happens Next

Your child sat the Iowa Assessments or the ND A+ Summative. The scores came back, and they are not what you hoped. Now you are staring at a number below the 50th percentile and wondering whether North Dakota is about to pull your right to homeschool.

The short answer: low scores trigger a state-mandated monitoring process, not an automatic loss of rights — but the requirements are real, they are legally binding, and ignoring them can escalate into consequences that threaten your ability to continue homeschooling. Here is exactly what the law says and what you need to do.

How North Dakota's Testing Requirement Works

North Dakota is one of a small number of states that requires homeschool families to test AND enforces consequences based on the results. Under NDCC §15.1-23-11, parents must test their children in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10. (The grade 10 requirement replaced the former grade 11 cutoff under the ND A+ system.) Testing must be administered by a certified teacher — either a district teacher or one the parent arranges independently.

Parents have two testing paths:

• ND A+ Summative: Administered free of charge through the school district.
• Iowa Assessments or Stanford 10: Available at the parent's expense, but must still be proctored by a certified teacher.

The composite score — not individual subject scores — is what the law uses to determine whether a family enters monitored status.

What "Below the 50th Percentile" Actually Triggers

If your child's composite score falls below the 50th percentile, state law automatically places your homeschool under monitored status for the following academic year. This is not a judgment call by the superintendent — the statute is clear.

Monitored status means a licensed teacher must observe your homeschool program during the next school year. There are two ways this is satisfied:

1. The school district provides a licensed teacher at no cost to the family.
2. The parent arranges and pays for their own licensed monitor.

The monitor's role is to review the educational program — curriculum, instruction, and progress — not to dictate how you teach. But they do have to confirm the program meets state standards. The monitoring relationship runs for the full academic year, and your child will test again at the next required grade to exit monitored status.

Families in monitored status are still homeschooling. Your curriculum choices remain your own. What changes is that a licensed professional has a formal oversight role for that year.

What Triggers Monitoring Even Without Low Scores

Low test scores are not the only path to monitored status. North Dakota law also requires monitoring if a parent lacks a high school diploma or GED. In that situation, monitoring is mandatory from the start of the homeschool program — not as a consequence of a test result.

This is worth knowing because some families who are new to North Dakota homeschooling assume monitoring only happens to families with academic problems. It is a structural feature of the law for certain household situations.

What Happens If You Do Nothing

Ignoring monitored status does not make it go away. If you fail to cooperate with the monitoring requirement after a below-50th-percentile score, you are in violation of North Dakota's compulsory attendance laws. That violation puts your homeschool authorization at risk.

North Dakota has grown significantly as a homeschool state — enrollment hit 5,953 students in 2025-2026, up 73% since 2019-2020 — and as homeschooling has grown, so has administrative familiarity with these rules. Superintendents are more likely to track monitoring requirements now than they were five years ago.

The safest path is to engage with the monitoring process, document everything, and treat it as a one-year compliance exercise rather than a crisis.

The Difference Between Monitored Status and Remediation

Monitored status (below 50th percentile) and remediation (below 30th percentile) are two separate legal categories in North Dakota law. This post covers monitored status.

If your child's composite score falls below the 30th percentile — a lower threshold — the law escalates to a more intensive process that includes a multidisciplinary assessment and, if no learning disability is identified, a formal written remediation plan. That process has its own timeline, filing requirements, and cost provisions. See our separate article on North Dakota homeschool remediation plans for the full details.

Your Options When Scores Come Back Low

Option 1: Accept monitored status and continue. For most families, this is the right move. The monitoring requirement is time-limited, the monitor cannot dictate your curriculum, and exiting monitored status is straightforward — score at or above the 50th percentile on the next required testing grade.

Option 2: Switch test formats. If your child tested on the Iowa Assessments and the composite was below the threshold, you can use the ND A+ Summative next time (or vice versa). Different test formats measure different things, and some children perform better on one format than another. Talk to a certified teacher who proctors both.

Option 3: Adjust your approach to tested subjects. The composite score covers reading, language, and math. If your child has a strong unschooling or interest-led approach that leaves these subjects underrepresented, a year with more structured practice in these areas before the next test cycle may shift the composite score meaningfully.

Option 4: Request clarification in writing. If your superintendent is communicating about monitored status in vague or alarming terms — or if they are claiming authority the law does not give them — put your questions in writing and document responses. The statute is specific. Anything the superintendent demands beyond what NDCC §15.1-23-11 authorizes is overreach.

If you are navigating monitored status and want to make sure your program and documentation are airtight, the North Dakota Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers the full compliance landscape — including what monitored status requires, how to document your program for a monitor, and what protections the law does and does not give you.

What to Say to Your Superintendent

Many families are unsure how to respond when a superintendent contacts them about low test scores. A few principles:

• You do not have to agree to anything verbally on the spot. Ask for written communication of any requirements.
• Confirm whether the score in question is the composite score or a sub-score — only the composite triggers monitored status.
• Ask who will be assigned as the licensed monitor and what the monitoring process will look like in practice.
• Keep records of all correspondence.

NDHSA (North Dakota Home School Association) is a good first call if you need to verify whether a superintendent's requests align with the statute. HSLDA also provides guidance for member families facing compliance pressure.

Looking Ahead: Exiting Monitored Status

Monitored status is not permanent. It lasts for one academic year, and the exit condition is simple: score at or above the 50th percentile composite on the next required testing grade. Once that score is on record, monitored status ends and your homeschool continues under standard requirements.

The licensed monitor's observations and notes from the monitored year do not follow you into subsequent years. The record resets at the next test.

This means a below-50th-percentile score on a grade 4 test, handled correctly, has a defined exit ramp before the grade 6 test. Plan your curriculum accordingly, document your instruction, and approach the monitored year as a single-year checkpoint rather than an ongoing burden.

Low scores are stressful. But in North Dakota, they are a trigger for a defined process — not an open-ended loss of control over your child's education. Knowing exactly what the process requires is the first step to navigating it without unnecessary disruption.

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