The Short Answer
Pennsylvania homeschooling under 24 P.S. §13-1327.1 requires the supervising parent to hold at least a high school diploma. File a notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration with your district superintendent by August 1 each year. Provide 180 days or 900 hours of instruction at the elementary level (K-6) and 180 days or 990 hours at the secondary level (7-12). Maintain a portfolio with a contemporaneous log and student work samples. Have your child take a nationally normed standardized test in grades 3, 5, and 8. Submit a written evaluation from a qualified evaluator to the superintendent by June 30 each year.
Verified June 2026 against Pennsylvania School Code 24 P.S. §13-1327.1. Confirm current evaluator requirements and approved testing with your local district before your June 30 submission deadline.
Pennsylvania Home Instruction at a Glance
| Parent qualification | High school diploma or equivalent |
|---|---|
| Annual affidavit | Notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration to superintendent by August 1 |
| Instruction hours | 180 days OR 900 hours/year (K-6); 180 days OR 990 hours/year (7-12) |
| Portfolio | Contemporaneous log plus student work samples; keep throughout year |
| Standardized testing | Grades 3, 5, and 8 only; nationally normed test; parent cannot administer |
| Annual evaluator | Qualified third party (not the parent or spouse); written certification due to superintendent by June 30 |
| High school graduation | 4 years English, 3 years math, 3 years science, 3 years social studies, 2 years art/humanities |
| High school diploma | Parent-issued |
| State funding | No ESA or voucher program in Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania's Homeschool Options
Pennsylvania law offers four paths for home-based education. Option 1 is the homeschool statute at 24 P.S. §13-1327.1, used by the large majority of Pennsylvania families. Option 2 is instruction by a private tutor who holds a Pennsylvania teaching certificate and is paid for the service. Option 3 enrolls the child as a satellite student of a religious day school. Option 4 enrolls the child as a satellite of a day or boarding school accredited by a state board-approved accreditation association. This article focuses on Option 1. It is the most direct path for parents who want to teach their own children independently, without a tutor's credential or a school enrollment.
Option 1 gives you full control over curriculum, schedule, and learning environment. The state sets the floor for hours, subjects, documentation, and annual review. Within those requirements, you choose how to teach, what materials to use, and how to structure the year. That combination of structure and freedom is what makes Option 1 the path most Pennsylvania homeschool families choose.
The Parent Qualification Requirement
Pennsylvania requires the supervising parent or guardian to hold at least a high school diploma or its equivalent. A GED satisfies this requirement. This is one of the few explicit parent qualification requirements among the states in this cluster, and it applies before you can file an affidavit or begin a home education program. The supervising parent is the person who bears responsibility for the home education program and signs the annual affidavit. If two parents are in the household, only the supervising parent needs to hold the diploma; the other parent can assist with instruction without a separate qualification requirement.
Filing the Annual Affidavit
Each year, before beginning your home education program, file a notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration with your district's superintendent. For families starting for the first time, you must file before you begin instruction. After the first year, the deadline is August 1 each year. The unsworn declaration is a newer alternative to the notarized affidavit; it contains the same information but does not require a notary, which makes it faster to submit. Send your filing by certified mail with return receipt so you have documentation of delivery date.
The affidavit or declaration must include: your name and the name, age, address, and phone number of each child you are enrolling; an assurance that subjects will be taught in English; an outline of your proposed educational objectives by subject area; documentation of required immunizations or a religious or medical exemption; evidence of required health services; certification that the program will comply with 24 P.S. §13-1327.1; and a certification that you, all adults living in the home, and anyone with legal custody of the children have not been convicted of certain criminal offenses within the past five years.
The criminal history certification is required each year. It covers the supervising parent and everyone else in the household, not only the instructors. This is a Pennsylvania-specific requirement that catches some families off guard the second year, when they assume the filing process will be shorter than it was the first time. Plan for the same level of documentation annually.
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Hours, Days, and Required Subjects
Pennsylvania requires either 180 days of instruction per year or a set number of instructional hours, whichever you choose to track. At the elementary level (kindergarten through grade 6), the requirement is 180 days or 900 hours. At the secondary level (grades 7 through 12), it is 180 days or 990 hours. You record whichever metric you choose; the district does not prescribe a school calendar. Many families find hours easier to track because it accommodates varied daily schedules without the need to define what counts as a school day.
For elementary grades, the required subjects are: English (spelling, reading, and writing), arithmetic, civics, history of the United States and Pennsylvania, health and physiology, physical education, music, art, geography, science, and safety education including fire prevention. For secondary grades, the list expands and the components are defined more precisely: English (language, literature, speech, and composition), mathematics (general math, algebra, and geometry), social studies (civics, US and Pennsylvania history, and world history), health, physical education, music, art, geography, science, and safety education. Pennsylvania specifies the components of English and math at the secondary level more precisely than most states do.
For high school graduation, Pennsylvania law specifies minimum credit requirements: 4 years of English, 3 years of mathematics, 3 years of science, 3 years of social studies, and 2 years of art and humanities. You set the grading standards and issue the diploma. Before you build your subject list, a free reading assessment gives you a concrete picture of where your child's reading and language skills stand right now, which helps you choose starting materials that fit from the first week.
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Maintaining the Portfolio
Pennsylvania requires you to maintain a portfolio throughout the year. Two items are required in every portfolio: a log and student work samples.
The log must be made contemporaneously with instruction, meaning you write it as teaching happens, not after the fact. It must list by title the reading materials used. A simple running document updated at the end of each school day or week works well; the key is the "contemporaneous" requirement. Reconstructing a log at year-end does not satisfy the statute. The titles requirement means you record the names of books, workbooks, curricula, or other reading materials as you use them. A spreadsheet or a plain document with dated entries and material titles is enough.
The second component is student work samples: writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the child during the year. You do not need to keep every piece of work; a representative selection from each subject across the four quarters is standard. The portfolio is reviewed by your evaluator at year-end, so it should be organized well enough for someone outside the household to read. A binder with subject dividers, with dated work samples and your log, gives the evaluator a clear record to work from.
Standardized Testing in Grades 3, 5, and 8
Pennsylvania does not require standardized testing every year. Testing is required in grades 3, 5, and 8 only. At those three checkpoints, the child must take a nationally normed standardized test approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), or the Pennsylvania statewide assessments given to public school students. The test must cover mathematics and reading or language arts. A parent or guardian cannot administer the test; a qualified third party must do so. Test results go into the portfolio and are reviewed by the evaluator.
PDE approves a range of nationally normed tests, including the California Achievement Test, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Stanford Achievement Test, Terra Nova, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), Woodcock-Johnson, and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test III, among others. Many evaluators and homeschool co-ops offer testing services for a fee. If you use the same evaluator each year, they can often tell you which tests they are most comfortable reviewing and suggest where to find a qualified administrator.
The Annual Evaluator Requirement
Every year, by June 30, you must submit to your district superintendent a written evaluation from a qualified evaluator certifying that your child is receiving the instruction the law requires. Pennsylvania sets the standard as instruction in the required subjects for the required time, in which the student "demonstrates sustained progress in the overall program."
The evaluator must be one of three types: a licensed psychologist, a teacher certified by Pennsylvania with at least two years of teaching experience, or a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of teaching experience in the past 10 years. The supervising parent and the parent's spouse cannot be the evaluator. The evaluation is based on an interview with the child and a review of the portfolio.
The evaluator submits a written statement certifying whether the child is receiving the instruction the law requires. This certification is what you forward to the superintendent by June 30. If the superintendent has a reasonable belief at any point during the year that qualifying instruction may not be occurring, the superintendent can require you to submit an evaluator's certification within 30 days.
Finding an evaluator is a straightforward process once you know where to look. The Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania (CHAP) maintains an evaluator directory at chaponline.com that many Pennsylvania homeschool families use, regardless of religious affiliation. Many evaluators have reviewed home education portfolios for years and can tell you exactly what documentation helps the certification go without difficulty. The guide covers how to build a year-end portfolio package that gives your evaluator everything they need at one time.
Pulling Your Child Out of a Pennsylvania Public School
Send written notice to the school that you are withdrawing the child. Then file your affidavit or unsworn declaration with the superintendent before you begin home instruction. Keep copies of both the withdrawal notice and your filing confirmation. The school cannot require anything further once the withdrawal notice and your affidavit are on file.
If you move to a different school district while homeschooling, contact your current superintendent by registered mail at least 30 days before the move and request a letter of transfer. The current superintendent must issue the letter within 30 days of your request. File that letter with the superintendent of your new district when you arrive, along with a new affidavit for the new district. Planning the move paperwork 30 days out prevents any gap in your program's legal standing.
Extracurricular Access
Pennsylvania Act 67 (2005) gives homeschool students the right to take part in extracurricular activities at their local public school, subject to the same eligibility standards that apply to enrolled students. This includes sports, band, clubs, and other school-sponsored activities. Individual districts administer this, so contact your district's activities office early in the school year to understand the enrollment process and any required documentation. Some districts are well-practiced at including homeschool students; others are less familiar with Act 67. A written request citing the statute helps if you encounter resistance.
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A Note from Homeschool Teacher Guide: What This Really Means for You
Pennsylvania asks for more than most states, but it is asking for things that solid homeschoolers do regardless: keep a log of what you teach, save samples of your child's work, and check in annually with someone who can give you an honest read on how things are going. The evaluator requirement feels unfamiliar if you come from a state with no oversight, but many families find the annual evaluation worthwhile. A good evaluator is not looking to catch you out; they are looking to confirm that your child is progressing. The two pieces that trip families up most often are the contemporaneous log (write it as you go, not in June) and the grade 3, 5, and 8 testing calendar (easy to miss if you are not tracking which grade your child is in). Get both of those right from the start and the rest of the year runs on schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a parent need a teaching credential to homeschool in Pennsylvania?
No teaching credential is required. Under Option 1 of 24 P.S. §13-1327.1, the supervising parent must hold at least a high school diploma or its equivalent, but no state teaching certificate is needed.
What goes in a Pennsylvania homeschool portfolio?
The portfolio must include two things: a log made contemporaneously with instruction that lists the titles of reading materials used, and samples of student work including writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials. In grades 3, 5, and 8, the portfolio must also include results from a nationally normed standardized test.
Who can evaluate a Pennsylvania homeschool portfolio?
The evaluator must be a licensed psychologist, a Pennsylvania-certified teacher with at least two years of teaching experience, or a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of experience in the past 10 years. The supervising parent and the parent's spouse cannot serve as the evaluator. The evaluation must be submitted to the superintendent by June 30 each year.
When is standardized testing required in Pennsylvania homeschooling?
Testing is required in grades 3, 5, and 8 only, not every year. The test must be a nationally normed standardized test approved by PDE, covering math and reading or language arts. A parent or guardian cannot administer the test.
Does Pennsylvania offer any funding for homeschool families?
No. Pennsylvania does not have an education savings account program or any other state financial support for families homeschooling under the homeschool statute. All curriculum, testing, and evaluation costs are the family's responsibility.