PA Homeschool Evaluators: How to Find One and What to Expect

The annual evaluator review sits at the center of Pennsylvania's home education compliance system. Under 24 PA C.S. §13-1327.1, every home education family must have a qualified evaluator review the portfolio and submit a certification letter to the local school district superintendent by June 30 each year. Getting this step right protects your right to continue homeschooling — and finding the right evaluator makes the whole experience far less stressful.

Here is a complete guide to understanding PA homeschool evaluators: who qualifies, how to find one, what they look for, and how to prepare.

Who Qualifies as a PA Homeschool Evaluator?

Pennsylvania law is specific about who can serve as a home education evaluator. Under 24 PA C.S. §13-1327.1, a qualified evaluator must be one of the following:

• A licensed clinical or school psychologist with an active Pennsylvania license
• A Pennsylvania certified teacher with at least two years of teaching experience in the required subjects at the relevant grade level (elementary or secondary)
• A nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of teaching experience in Pennsylvania within the past ten years

One important restriction: the evaluator cannot be the supervisor (parent) conducting the home education program, or the supervisor's spouse. Beyond that, you have wide latitude to choose an evaluator who understands and respects your educational philosophy.

Fees are unregulated and market-driven. Expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $200 or more depending on whether the evaluator offers consultation, narrative portfolio summaries, or standardized test proctoring as part of their service.

What Does the Evaluator Actually Do?

Despite what nervous first-year families sometimes assume, the evaluator does not conduct a formal academic test of your child or render a judgment about your curriculum choices. The law requires two things:

1. An interview with the student — a conversational review, not a quiz. The evaluator speaks with your child about what they have been learning, their interests, and their educational experiences during the year.
2. A review of the portfolio — the evaluator examines your contemporaneous reading log, attendance documentation, work samples from each required subject, and (for grades 3, 5, and 8) standardized test results.

After completing both, the evaluator produces a written certification letter addressed to your school district superintendent. This letter must state, in language aligned with the statute, that based on the portfolio review and student interview, an appropriate home education program is being conducted and the student has made sustained progress. That letter — and only that letter — is what gets submitted to the district. The superintendent does not see your portfolio, your test scores, or your work samples.

How to Find a PA Homeschool Evaluator

Several reliable ways exist to locate evaluators in Pennsylvania:

HSLDA's evaluator directory: The Home School Legal Defense Association maintains a list of evaluators familiar with PA law.

PA Homeschoolers (pahomeschoolers.com): This well-established Pennsylvania organization has resources for connecting families with evaluators.

CHAP (Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania): Maintains an evaluator referral list, particularly useful for families in religious homeschool communities.

Local homeschool co-ops and Facebook groups: PA has robust regional homeschool communities. Search for county-level groups on Facebook (e.g., "Lancaster County Homeschoolers" or "Pittsburgh Homeschool Network") — members share evaluator recommendations regularly.

Word of mouth: Ask families who have been homeschooling in your district for a year or more. A personal recommendation from someone who has used an evaluator and had a smooth experience is the most reliable vetting.

When contacting evaluators, ask specifically:

• Do you work with families using [your curriculum approach, e.g., unschooling, Charlotte Mason, classical]?
• Do you proctor standardized tests as part of your service?
• What does your evaluation process look like?
• How do you prefer to receive portfolios — physical binder or digital?

Finding an evaluator whose philosophy is compatible with yours matters enormously. An evaluator who believes in rigid, textbook-based instruction may struggle to recognize the validity of project-based or nature-based learning. You are entitled to choose whoever you want — and to switch evaluators if one is not a good fit.

What Evaluators Look For in a PA Portfolio

Experienced evaluators are not looking for perfection or volume. They are looking for evidence of genuine educational engagement across the required subjects. The key statutory elements they check:

The contemporaneous reading log: This is the most commonly misunderstood element. The law requires a log "made contemporaneously with the instruction" that designates "by title the reading materials used." It is essentially a running bibliography of books, curricula, websites, and materials your child engaged with throughout the year. Evaluators want to see it was maintained throughout the year, not assembled the week before the evaluation.

Attendance documentation: Evidence of 180 days or 900 hours (elementary) / 990 hours (secondary) of instruction. A simple calendar with days marked off is the standard approach. A spreadsheet tracking hourly totals also works.

Work samples from all required subjects: Three to five samples per subject, drawn from the beginning, middle, and end of the year to show sustained progress. Evaluators do not want 200 worksheets — they want curated evidence of growth. For subjects like art and music, photographs of projects or performances are entirely acceptable.

Standardized test results (grades 3, 5, and 8 only): In test years, the portfolio must include scores from a nationally normed assessment in reading, language arts, and mathematics. There is no minimum passing score required by Pennsylvania law; the evaluator reviews the scores holistically as part of the overall picture.

Subject coverage: Pennsylvania mandates a long list of required subjects at both elementary and secondary levels, including one that surprises many families — fire safety, which must be taught with "regular and continuous instruction" throughout the year.

How to Prepare for the Evaluator Visit

Give yourself a week before the evaluation to assemble and review your portfolio. A checklist for final preparation:

• Confirm all required subjects have at least one work sample from each third of the year
• Verify the reading log covers materials used throughout the program
• Count your documented instructional days or hours and confirm they meet the 180-day / 900-990 hour minimum
• Include standardized test score reports if your child is in grade 3, 5, or 8
• Organize the binder by subject (not chronologically) — evaluators universally prefer subject-based organization
• Prepare your child briefly: let them know the evaluator will ask about things they enjoyed learning and what subjects they studied

One important legal point: if an evaluator demands documentation beyond what the statute requires — for example, demanding a granular daily schedule or a copy of your curriculum plan — you have the right to provide only what the law specifies. Similarly, if a superintendent contacts you and demands to see the physical portfolio, test scores, or detailed work samples, they are acting outside their statutory authority. The superintendent is entitled only to the evaluator's certification letter.

Make Evaluator Day Stress-Free

The annual evaluation should be a formality that confirms what you already know — that your child is learning and growing. The difference between a smooth evaluation and a stressful one usually comes down to portfolio organization rather than the quality of your educational program.

A well-organized, clearly structured binder sends an immediate signal to the evaluator that you take the legal requirements seriously. Subject dividers with clear labels, a tidy reading log, and curated work samples make the evaluator's job easy — and evaluators who finish quickly are evaluators who sign certification letters without complications.

The Pennsylvania Portfolio & Assessment Templates include a ready-to-use portfolio binder structure specifically organized for PA evaluator review, with subject-tabbed sections, a pre-formatted contemporaneous reading log, and an attendance tracking grid built for 180-day or hourly documentation. Everything is designed to meet the requirements of 24 PA C.S. §13-1327.1 from the first day of the school year through June 30.

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