PA Common Core Standards and Homeschooling: What Pennsylvania Families Need to Know

One of the most common questions Pennsylvania parents ask when they start homeschooling is whether they have to follow Pennsylvania's Common Core-aligned academic standards. The short answer is no — and understanding why that's the case is genuinely important, because the legal framework governing what you do have to teach is more specific than most families realize.

Pennsylvania Adopted Common Core, But Not for Homeschoolers

Pennsylvania officially adopted the Common Core State Standards and subsequently rebranded them as the Pennsylvania Core Standards in 2013. These standards govern what public school students are expected to learn in English Language Arts and Mathematics at each grade level. They are the basis for the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) — the statewide standardized test administered in public schools.

Here is the critical distinction: Pennsylvania's Core Standards apply to public schools and, by extension, charter and cyber charter schools. They do not apply to home education programs.

Pennsylvania's home education law, 24 PA C.S. §13-1327.1, is entirely separate from the public school accountability framework. It does not reference the Pennsylvania Core Standards at any point. A school district superintendent has no legal authority to demand that your homeschool curriculum aligns with PA Core benchmarks.

What Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Must Teach Instead

Instead of grade-level Common Core benchmarks, Pennsylvania homeschoolers must cover a statutory list of required subjects defined in §13-1327.1. This list is one of the most exhaustive in the country, but it is also more flexible in how you teach those subjects than Common Core's grade-specific progressions suggest.

Elementary level (grades K–6) requires instruction in:

• English (spelling, reading, writing)
• Arithmetic
• Science
• Geography
• History of the United States and Pennsylvania
• Civics
• Safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in fire prevention
• Health and physiology
• Physical education
• Music
• Art

Secondary level (grades 7–12) requires:

• English (language, literature, speech, composition)
• Science
• Geography
• Social studies (civics, world history, U.S. and Pennsylvania history)
• Mathematics (general math, algebra, geometry)
• Art
• Music
• Physical education
• Health
• Safety education, including fire prevention

Secondary programs may also include economics, biology, chemistry, foreign languages, and trigonometry at the supervisor's discretion.

Notice what is not specified: grade-level benchmarks, specific textbooks, standardized lesson progressions, or Common Core-aligned scope and sequences. The law tells you what to cover; it does not tell you how to teach it or what grade-level mastery looks like month by month.

The One Testing Requirement — and Why It's Not Common Core

Pennsylvania does mandate standardized testing, but only in grades 3, 5, and 8, and only in reading, language arts, and mathematics. This is often confused with the Common Core-aligned PSSA assessments, but there is a crucial difference.

Homeschooled students are not required to take the PSSA. The law allows families to choose from a list of nationally normed standardized tests that includes:

• California Achievement Test (CAT)
• Iowa Test of Basic Skills
• Measures of Academic Progress (MAP Growth)
• Stanford Achievement Test
• Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (III and IV)
• Terra Nova, and several others

These tests measure academic achievement against national norms — not against Pennsylvania Core Standards alignment. More importantly, there is no minimum "passing score" under Pennsylvania law. The evaluator reviews the scores as part of the complete portfolio picture, and the scores stay in your private portfolio. They are never submitted to your school district.

What Your Portfolio Must Demonstrate Instead

Because Pennsylvania home education is evaluated through an annual portfolio review rather than Common Core benchmarks, the standard you are held to is defined in the statute as evidence of "sustained progress" in the required subjects. The evaluator — a certified teacher or licensed psychologist you hire privately — assesses whether your child made real learning progress over the year, not whether they hit specific grade-level performance targets.

This means your portfolio needs to show:

1. A contemporaneous log designating reading materials by title — a bibliography of what your child read and engaged with throughout the year.
2. Work samples from each required subject, typically three to five per subject drawn from the beginning, middle, and end of the year.
3. An attendance record confirming 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours at the elementary level or 990 hours at the secondary level.
4. Standardized test results if your child is in grades 3, 5, or 8.

The portfolio is reviewed only by your evaluator. The school district receives only the evaluator's brief certification letter stating that an appropriate education is occurring. They do not see your curriculum, your test scores, or your work samples.

Why This Confusion Matters for Portfolio Building

Many parents who research "PA Common Core standards" while setting up their homeschool end up unnecessarily adopting a public-school-style curriculum sequence because they assume they need to match grade-level standards. This can create two real problems.

First, it constrains the pedagogical freedom that makes home education valuable in the first place. A classical learner, an unschooler, or a child with neurodivergent learning needs does not have to be forced through Common Core's specific progression of skills. The law only asks that the subject areas are covered and that progress occurs.

Second, it can lead to over-documentation. Parents who chase Common Core benchmarks tend to generate enormous volumes of worksheets and formal assessments, then feel compelled to include all of it in the portfolio. Pennsylvania evaluators consistently advise families to provide less, not more. Three to five strategically selected samples per subject demonstrate sustained progress more effectively than a binder overflowing with daily worksheets.

Cyber Charter Schools Are a Different Category

One important nuance: if your child is enrolled in a Pennsylvania cyber charter school — such as PA Cyber, Commonwealth Charter Academy, or Agora — that school is subject to Pennsylvania Core Standards and the state accountability system. Cyber charter students are enrolled students, not home education students. Their academic program is governed by the charter school's accountability framework, not by §13-1327.1.

If you are transitioning your child from a cyber charter to an independent home education program, you are moving from a Common Core-aligned environment into a statutory-subjects environment. The documentation requirements, assessment approach, and curriculum philosophy all change at that point.

Building a Portfolio That Actually Satisfies the Law

If you are trying to build a Pennsylvania-compliant portfolio without chasing unnecessary Common Core benchmarks, the most effective approach is to organize your records by the statutory subject list — not by grade-level performance standards. Each section of your portfolio corresponds to a legally required subject and contains evidence that instruction occurred and progress was made.

Our Pennsylvania Portfolio and Assessment Templates are designed around this exact framework. Every template maps directly to the requirements of 24 PA C.S. §13-1327.1, guides you to provide the legal minimum without over-submitting, and is structured to pass evaluator review regardless of your curriculum philosophy. Whether you use a secular, classical, Charlotte Mason, or unschooling approach, the same legal framework applies — and the same portfolio structure satisfies it.

Pennsylvania homeschooling is not about meeting Common Core benchmarks. It is about documenting the education you are already providing and presenting it clearly to a qualified evaluator once a year. Understanding that distinction makes the entire compliance process significantly less stressful.

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