Homeschool Testing and Evaluation by State: NY, PA, NC, FL, TX and CO
New York and Florida test every year, Pennsylvania only in three grades plus a yearly evaluator, North Carolina every grade with no state review, Texas never, and Colorado only at five grades, by percentile, with no letter grade.
Checked against the six states' sources on ; next check .
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Do we have to test? The answer differs across all six states this site covers, and the differences run deeper than a plain yes or no. States that do test disagree on which grades, who is allowed to give the test or evaluation, and what happens next if a child comes up short. This guide sets those four questions side by side for all six states, using only the facts each state's own guide already cites to its saved source.
Assessment rules, side by side
| State | Assessment | Required in | Who may evaluate | If a result falls short | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | A standardized test, or a written narrative in the allowed grades | Every year, grades 1–12 (grades 9–12: test only, no narrative option) | A test the parent picks from an approved list; for a narrative, a certified teacher, a peer-review panel or another qualified person the superintendent accepts | Up to two years on probation, with a remediation plan the district reviews | 8 NYCRR § 100.10 |
| Pennsylvania | A state or approved test, plus a separate yearly evaluator certification | Tests: grades 3, 5 and 8 only. Certification: every year, all grades | The test itself can be given at the district; the certification comes from a qualified evaluator the parent selects and pays | No stated consequence — there's no opt-out for the three tested grades, and the evaluator's own judgment is the yearly check | PDE guide |
| North Carolina | A nationally standardized test | Every year, every grade | Chosen and given under the parent's own authority as the school's chief administrator | Not addressed — scores are kept on file for state inspection, not screened or acted on by the state | NC statute, Art. 39 |
| Florida | One of five options: portfolio review, a normed test, a district assessment, a licensed evaluation, or an agreed alternative | Every year | A Florida-certified teacher, a licensed (school) psychologist, or whoever the superintendent agrees to | A written notice from the superintendent, then a year to remediate before a second look | Fla. Stat. § 1002.41 |
| Texas | None required | N/A | N/A | N/A — the state has no role in checking a homeschool's progress | TEA |
| Colorado | A nationally standardized test, or a qualified person's evaluation | Grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 only | A licensed teacher, a teacher at an independent or parochial school, a licensed psychologist, or someone with a graduate degree in education | At or below the 13th percentile: a retest on an alternate test first, then possible school placement if that retest doesn't clear it | C.R.S. § 22-33-104.5 |
Where a letter grade enters the picture
Only two rows above lead naturally to the transcript builder. New York's quarterly reports can carry a grade for each subject instead of a narrative, so a family that already grades its own coursework has something a GPA tool can total up. Texas requires no evaluation of any kind, but its own guide already suggests an optional file for later — a transcript with courses, credits and a grade in each — because nothing in Texas law demands one, yet colleges reviewing an applicant expect to see one anyway.
Read Colorado's row carefully before assuming the same connection holds there. Its assessment produces a composite percentile, never a subject grade, at five specific grades and nowhere else. A 13th-percentile line decides whether a child stays exempt from school attendance; it has nothing to say about what a course grade should be. A Colorado family building a transcript is assembling it from the coursework itself, not from anything its grades 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11 testing produced, so this guide makes no transcript-GPA claim for Colorado at all.
When a result falls short
The four states that test at all treat a weak result very differently. New York and Florida both build in a second chance with a deadline: New York's probation runs up to two school years behind a remediation plan the district signs off on, while Florida gives one year of remedial instruction before a fresh evaluation. Colorado moves faster and narrower — a retest happens immediately, on a different version or a different approved test, and only a second low score opens the door to a school placement requirement. Pennsylvania and North Carolina simply don't say: neither guide's source spells out what happens after a low score, so neither promise appears here. Texas has nothing to fall short of, since nothing is ever measured.
Sources (6)
- 8 NYCRR § 100.10, Home instruction (Cornell LII) law.cornell.edu
- Pennsylvania Department of Education: Home Education and Private Tutoring Guide (May 2026) pa.gov
- N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 115C, Article 39 ncleg.gov
- Fla. Stat. § 1002.41, Home education programs leg.state.fl.us
- Texas Education Agency: Home Schooling tea.texas.gov
- C.R.S. § 22-33-104.5, Home-based education (Colorado General Assembly) content.leg.colorado.gov
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