Wyoming Homeschool Record Keeping: Attendance Logs, PAWS Test, Portfolios, and WDE684

One of the genuine benefits of homeschooling in Wyoming is that the state imposes almost no mandatory record keeping on families. No required daily hours. No mandatory attendance log. No standardized testing requirement. The Homeschool Freedom Act (HB 46), which took effect July 1, 2025, even removed the requirement to submit an annual curriculum outline to your local school board.

That freedom is real. But freedom from mandatory record keeping is not the same thing as freedom from needing records. The families who run into serious problems — truancy investigations, Hathaway Scholarship disqualification, university admissions complications, WDE684 miscoding — are almost always the ones who treated "Wyoming doesn't require it" as a reason not to keep documentation at all.

What Wyoming Actually Requires (and What It Doesn't)

Under W.S. § 21-4-102, a valid home-based educational program in Wyoming must provide a "sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction" in seven subjects: reading, writing, mathematics, civics, history, literature, and science.

That is the legal standard. The statute does not specify:

• Minimum daily or annual hours of instruction
• A required attendance log format
• Mandatory assessments or standardized tests
• Portfolio reviews by external evaluators
• Annual submissions to the school district (post-HB 46)

The important exception to the deregulated environment: if your child accesses public school sports, extracurricular activities, or special education services (IEP or 504), you must still submit your curriculum to the district to maintain eligibility, even after HB 46. That carve-out is explicit in the amended statute.

Why You Should Keep Records Anyway

Legal protection. If a district attendance officer or the Department of Family Services ever questions whether your child is receiving an education, your records are your defense. Wyoming families have had truancy investigations initiated by overzealous districts, particularly in the first few months after withdrawal. A portfolio of completed work, a basic attendance log, and curriculum receipts make those investigations short-lived.

Hathaway Scholarship eligibility. This is the highest-stakes reason for disciplined record keeping at the high school level. The Hathaway Scholarship — worth up to $1,680 per semester at the University of Wyoming or Wyoming community colleges — has strict, non-negotiable curriculum requirements for homeschooled applicants. Because homeschoolers are not evaluated by GPA, their eligibility is determined entirely by ACT score and the Hathaway Success Curriculum: four years of language arts, four years of mathematics (including Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and one additional math course in grades 9-12), four years of science, and three years of social studies. You must document these specific courses on state-provided forms. If you haven't tracked them, you cannot reconstruct the record convincingly.

University of Wyoming admissions. UW requires homeschooled applicants to submit a Home School Credit Evaluation Form, completed by the parent, detailing each course taught, the curriculum provider, and the grades received per semester. Students under 21 must also submit ACT or SAT scores. This form is not onerous, but it requires that you actually know what you taught, when, with what materials.

Post-secondary transcripts. You are the diploma-issuing authority for your homeschooled child. Wyoming does not issue diplomas to homeschooled students. A well-maintained course log from grades 9 through 12 makes transcript generation a straightforward task. An absent one makes it guesswork.

The WDE684 Student Coding Issue

The Wyoming Department of Education uses a student data coding system — the WDE684 form — to classify students in the state's data infrastructure. When a child withdraws from public school, the district must update that student's enrollment coding. A common problem: districts occasionally code a withdrawn homeschooler incorrectly — as a dropout, as transferred to an unknown institution, or simply as absent-without-record.

This matters because incorrect WDE684 coding can surface in background checks, military enlistment documentation requests, and in some cases create administrative friction when the student later applies to a Wyoming institution that queries the state education database. If you suspect your child has been miscoded after withdrawal, you have the right to request clarification from the district and from the Wyoming Department of Education directly.

When you execute your withdrawal correctly — in person, with written consent under W.S. § 21-4-102(c) — there is a documented paper trail that establishes the correct status. That is the most effective way to prevent miscoding at the source.

The PAWS Test for Homeschoolers

Wyoming offers homeschooled students optional access to the PAWS (Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students) standardized test, available for grades 3-8 and grade 11 in core subjects. This is entirely voluntary — there is no penalty for not participating, and participation does not trigger additional district oversight.

To access PAWS, the district must be notified by November 1st of the school year. The test is administered through the district, and results are returned to the family.

Why would a family choose to participate? Some families use PAWS scores as an external benchmark — a way to verify that their curriculum is producing the academic growth they intend, without the pressure of a mandatory testing environment. Others use PAWS scores as part of a college application package to supplement a homeschool transcript. And for families pursuing the Hathaway Scholarship, ACT prep typically benefits from practice with standardized test formats; PAWS gives younger students experience with that format years before the ACT matters.

Participating in PAWS does not make your child a public school student. It does not trigger any ongoing obligation to the district. It is simply an optional diagnostic tool that the state makes available.

Building a Practical Record Keeping System

You don't need a complex system. You need one that is consistent.

Attendance log. A simple spreadsheet or paper log showing the date and subjects covered each day takes about two minutes to maintain. Even though Wyoming doesn't require it, an attendance log is the fastest document to produce if anyone questions whether your child is being educated. It also helps you track instructional patterns — whether you're consistently hitting all seven required subjects over time.

Work portfolio. Keep samples of completed work organized by subject and school year. This doesn't mean every worksheet — it means representative examples that show progression. A writing portfolio that includes a sample from September and a sample from May demonstrates "sequentially progressive" instruction in literature and writing without requiring any external evaluation.

Curriculum receipts and course descriptions. Keep records of what curriculum you purchased or used, including the publisher, the course title, and what grade level or scope it covers. This is the raw material for both a Hathaway Success Curriculum documentation form and a University of Wyoming Home School Credit Evaluation Form.

Test scores. If your child takes ACT, SAT, AP exams, or PAWS, keep the score reports. These are official third-party records that carry significant weight in post-secondary admissions and scholarship applications.

Correspondence with the district. After you complete your in-person withdrawal meeting, keep a copy of the written consent form you signed. If the district sends any follow-up communications — requests for curriculum, attendance demands, or anything that exceeds their statutory authority — keep those too. Post-HB 46, the district has no authority to demand curriculum submission from a family that is not accessing sports or IEP services. Documented overreach gives you grounds to push back clearly.

Getting the foundational paperwork right from the moment of withdrawal is the cleanest way to start. The Wyoming Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers the written consent form requirements, the in-person meeting protocol, and the documentation that protects you through the transition and into the years of home education that follow.

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